Outdoor Education

In preparation for the nesting season, pupils have been out in the woodland area selecting suitable places for new bird boxes to be placed. Mr Knibb kindly donated some new bird boxes to the school which we hope will become home to nesting birds in the spring.

Many thanks to Joe Kelly and the Gardening Department at Buckfast Abbey, who designed and created an outdoor oven following suggestions to develop outdoor cooking by the children at St Mary’s. The oven has been made from virtually all recycled materials too.

Staff and pupils at St Mary’s were thrilled to find out that they had won an award, following their entry in the CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) ‘Our Outdoors’ competition 2016.  The award was given for ‘Most improved and innovative outdoor location’ as recognition for the work carried out by pupils in their school woodland… Read more »

Congratulations to our Year 2 pupils who were all successful in achieving a Green Blue Peter Badge this term.  Following their outdoor education programme, the children chose their favourite activities to write about in a letter to Blue Peter.  They were awarded with the Green Blue Peter Badge, which all the pupils have proudly worn to… Read more »

After our gardening club successfully grew and harvested around thirty cabbages in our raised beds, they were given to the kitchen staff at St Cuthbert’s, who produce the school meals, to cook and serve alongside the weekly roast dinner.  The cabbage tasted great and many of the children were more enthusiastic to eat the cabbage,… Read more »

Fernworthy Class visited the Forest and Beach Centre at Beeson, to develop their team building skills and also to learn some new bush craft skills.  During the day the pupils enjoyed den building, archery and built a camp fire, which was a huge success!

The focus of this year’s outdoor education has been on conservation and developing a greater understanding of the Greater Horseshoe Bat as one of the largest colonies of this bat species is in close proximity to the school.  The Outdoor Education sessions that have taken place, together with additional sessions held at the Abbey’s Education… Read more »

Burrator pupils took part in a story telling session with Alison and Anna in our school woodland.  There were a number of unusual objects found int he area including a giant egg, large pile of poo and some books and papers. Pupils had to work out what had happened by piecing together all of the… Read more »

All of our pupils are taking part in outdoor education sessions again this term.  Take a look at what they have been up to so far this term: Outdoor Education 2016