Outdoor Learning at John Paul II Catholic School- a journey….

Just four years ago, the playground was a very different place at John Paul II Catholic School, on the Eastern Shore of Hobart. Data gathered from the school tracking inappropriate behaviour; where, when and why it was occurring, showed many problems occurred in the playground during recess and lunch time. This was also impacting on learning time as problems that occurred during play times then carried into the classroom. Thus began a journey, one that involved many aspects including the teaching of emotional regulation, an intense focus on social and emotional learning and an overhaul of our outdoor learning areas. In this article I am going to discuss the changes we put into our outdoor learning areas, and the success we found.

The starting point came when we looked at what the children could do in the playground. There was play equipment, sports equipment and the like but the children did not seem really engaged in their play and thus they tended to ‘wander’ in groups which invariably resulted in problems. The first thing we did was embrace a new philosophy of outdoor play, loose parts play. This involves children using all sorts of provided items to create their own play; tyres, wooden reels, pieces of wood, fabric and so on. The children were allowed to play with sticks, they were taught how to play safely, and if they were unable to play safely we banned the child from the sticks, not the sticks from the children! The children were also allowed to climb the trees in particular areas which were safe to do so.

Through fundraising and grants we acquired we were able to build a bike track and we purchased mountain bikes in a range of sizes for the children to ride (once they had passed their safety test and were signed off of course!) We purchased a 40 foot container to store our bikes and our loose parts play equipment. One of the immediate things we did was open the library every day at lunchtime. This involved a re-think of the duty roster but it was well worth it as the children had a quiet space they could go each day which was equipped with art and craft, blocks, a dolls house and even a soccer table. This space provides a preferred area for many of our children with ASD who find it challenging outside.

We also planned structured activities to run during lunchtimes including soccer club, basketball club and dancing and staff were rostered on to do this as well as we were able to get our PCYC in Schools officer to attend and assist. This has evolved over time and now we use Sporting Schools funding to run sports at lunchtime. Each term accredited coaches come to school and run their sport at lunchtime. Children sign up and attend each week participating in sports such as Gymnastics, AFL, Hockey, Badminton and Cycling.

Over the last few years we have added a large sandpit, water feature with dry creek bed, an and an outdoor kitchen made from pallets where the children cook up a storm. Here they are collecting, measuring and pouring water from the pump and using dirt, leaves, sticks and grass to create. These additions to our playground have created a much more co-operative, inclusive environment which is reflected in our data. The number of behavior incidents recorded in April 2016 was averaged at 7.7 per day, March 2017 averaged 4.86 per day with May 2018 data averaging 1.7 referrals per day. This demonstrates our continuing reduction over time. Now the children play creatively, they are engaging much more positively with each other and staff members, they are much more emotionally regulated and ready to learn.