We are passionate about being outside to explore, excite and excel. Our children love spending time out of the classrooms - we encourage them to exercise and improve their mental health.  We try to build environmental discussion and outdoor learning into everything we do.

We are very lucky to be situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with Blagdon Lake just down the hill from us.  We have access to the village orchard, the Mead and tennis courts and a large, grassed play area for lunchtime activities and after school clubs.  Surrounded by countryside, Blagdon is truly a great place for our children to start exploring the natural world. 

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Gardening & Wildlife Projects at School

We have a fantastic front garden consisting of raised beds, a bountiful apple tree and an ornamental fishpond. Our children spend time planting and growing a range of plants, fruits and vegetables.  One of the beds is planted up with sensory plants for smell and touch.  We have started our journey of awards with the RHS School Gardening Scheme and have plans to extend and develop a new area of the garden.    

             

We have a number of water butts where we harvest rainwater to fill up our watering cans.  We have two compost areas, one in our front garden for the children to use and another tucked away for the caretaker to fill up.

We planted an ornamental cherry tree in our front garden to mark our conversion to an Academy school.  The children took part in another planting activity to create a hedgerow around the boundary of the Blagdon Cricket Field. They also 'looked after' a number of eels in tanks that were later released into Blagdon Lake.  We hope to take part in more projects to help our local environment.

We have a few bug hotels around our school grounds, encouraging the children to take a closer look at the minibeasts and insects inside.  Our bird box is placed high up in our fir tree to provide the box with shade and a little peace and quiet from our excited children.  The house martins are regular visitors to Blagdon, building their nests along the School House eves.  We also have a bird table and bird bath - the children top these up with food and water to keep our feathered friends happy all through the year.

Forest Schools

Our Years 1, 2 and 6 children take part in Forest Schools learning. Our Forest Schools specialist teacher creates opportunities for the children to enjoy a range of outdoor activities at Tania's Wood Nature Reserve (a thank you to The Mendip Society for allowing us to use this beautiful space). The aim is to allow the children to gain self-confidence whilst learning in an outdoor environment.  They gain a greater understanding of the environment we live in and obtain skills by thinking about the tasks they are working on and using manual tools.

         

A Green Tree School

We are taking action to help the environment by participating in The Woodland Trust's Green Tree Schools Award.  The School takes part in fun, practical projects while helping the environment and improving our grounds.  We are currently a Bronze Award School but hope to be a Silver Award School by the end of Term 6 2023.

 

Apple Gifting

Our KS1 children take part in apple gifting each year.  Apples are collected from the village orchard and are delivered to the Blagdon lunch club.  The children sing a song celebrating the season of Autumn and enjoy the company of some villagers.

 

National Outdoor Learning Day

National Outdoor Learning Day takes place in May and November each year and our children enjoy taking part in outdoor games and art activities. We love to celebrate and make our children aware of their local environment.

Countryside Day

Every other year, we take our KS2 children to the North Somerset Countryside Day.  This free event aims to educate and inspire children about where their food comes from and the opportunities available in the countryside; whether for a career or leisure.  

30 Days Wild

We take part in The Wildlife Trusts' annual '30 Days Wild' initiative where the children try one different wild activity outdoors on each day of June. This year we plan to identify wildflowers, sketch clouds, go on a bug hunt, enjoy some water activities and draw charcoal pictures, plus lots more too.