Teaching Students visited Holywood this Week!
Teaching students from the local university joined us at Holywood for a presentation about our playground / outdoor learning journey.
They then jumped into the playground for a play session at break time with the team.
Tree climbing, hill sliding, a giant obstacle course and mud pies in the mud kitchen were just a few of the play activities going on.
The students then joined the whole school for a maths outdoors learning session. Pupils across the school were counting sandcastles, measuring time, speed and distance off the hill, building tall towers, throwing wellies and measuring distance, counting in ones and in multiples… and more!
We got some feedback:
“Thank you for showing us how you made your school have more of an outdoor focus. It brought back so many memories of my school and has now given me inspiration to plan my learning to be more outdoors, and learning with natural resources. It was lovely to see the imagination the children had and importantly they were having fun with their learning. I really hope that one day I can bring this into my own school setting. Thank you for sharing with us.”
“This is the best way for us to being our LFS learning to life. Thank you for having us”
“Holywood Primary is simply fantastic. We have all learned so much today that we can carry into our own teaching. The Staff and children are just amazing. I hope I get the chance to come back some time.”
“Thank you so much for welcoming all of us to your school. It was amazing to see how passionate you are about the journey you have taken your school on. You definitely win the best playground award!”
“What a lovely opportunity to see how children are involved in sustainable learning. I saw so many discovery and play ideas to take away.”
“Such an amazing place for children to learn: exploring and learning through their own experiences – and all children were included.”
“It was so interesting how the lesson outdoors worked and how engaged the children were.”
“I was absolutely amazed by the fabulous school and how much you and your amazing team make the children feel listened to. I was so shocked when I hear you talk about 18 child placement requests – but now I can see why. If I had children they would absolutely be coming to Holywood”
“Positive attitudes towards learning outdoors that are embedded throughout the week and range in level of challenge. I’ve gained a bit more confidence and strategies to begin thinking about outdoor learning in the future. All of the children I spoke to said how much they love being outdoors and learning new skills. It has made me feel a bigger sense of responsibility to make sure I am including more into my own practice.”
“Miss Dale was just amazing! She was so enthusiastic about the school and children. We have learned so much from this experience – thank you so much for taking time to share it with us”
Thanks again to the pupil and staff team for supporting this visit – you clearly made a big impression!!
Miss Dale
