Found your blog through your recent comment. I was recently at a conference which included information on green-space use in European schools and examples of outdoor classrooms where they had removed tarmac playgrounds and replaced with "wild" green areas. The accident rate dropped by 95% in this new playground as pupils began to play in natural environment and learn to assess risk on their own.
I entirely agree with your comments on new LTS post and the Scottish strategy overall, and possible lack of visibility of this. LTS have done some great work over the last couple of years on Outdoor Learning but we definitely need to fund more tangible sustainable projects
This is a very good point. RoSPA have interesting statistics too about the effectiveness of rubberised play surfaces and the type of accidents which happen. There's also been research in Sweden comparing an ordinary nursery to an I Ur och Skur (Rain or Shine) nursery - the name for their outdoor schools. It was a year long study which investigated a range of behaviours. One of the key findings was that the presence of uneven surfaces in the I Ur och Skur grounds and the amount of play on uneven surfaces hugely improved the children's physical coordination and gross motor skills.
Thanks very much for taking the time to look at my blog and respond.
2 comments:
Found your blog through your recent comment. I was recently at a conference which included information on green-space use in European schools and examples of outdoor classrooms where they had removed tarmac playgrounds and replaced with "wild" green areas. The accident rate dropped by 95% in this new playground as pupils began to play in natural environment and learn to assess risk on their own.
I entirely agree with your comments on new LTS post and the Scottish strategy overall, and possible lack of visibility of this. LTS have done some great work over the last couple of years on Outdoor Learning but we definitely need to fund more tangible sustainable projects
Hello Bill
This is a very good point. RoSPA have interesting statistics too about the effectiveness of rubberised play surfaces and the type of accidents which happen. There's also been research in Sweden comparing an ordinary nursery to an I Ur och Skur (Rain or Shine) nursery - the name for their outdoor schools. It was a year long study which investigated a range of behaviours. One of the key findings was that the presence of uneven surfaces in the I Ur och Skur grounds and the amount of play on uneven surfaces hugely improved the children's physical coordination and gross motor skills.
Thanks very much for taking the time to look at my blog and respond.
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