Outdoor Facilities
At Parkside, we also try to get outdoors as much as possible! We are lucky to have a fantastic outside environment. We have woods with a woodland trail – look out for the minibeast hotel, the log pile house, our hand-made shelters and our campfire!
A pair of wellies is essential at Parkside!
We make use of our school grounds as much as possible, both for playing and for learning. We have a small farm area with chickens, goats and ducks where children can learn many tasks in a practical cross-curricular fashion. The school has a large field, an adventure trail, an outdoor classroom, a sensory garden and two playgrounds, as well as a new outdoor gym area! Plenty of space to play and learn!
Forest School
We run Forest School sessions in our woods, where children can direct their own learning outside and learn skills such as woodwork, fire lighting, cooking, shelter building and nature conservation from Preschool to Year 6. Our in-house, forest school trained staff support children’s learning and ensure their safety. Our Early Years, Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 children all experience Forest School sessions on site. Our Key Stage 2 children experience their sessions both on site and at a local woodland.
Parkside Farm
We set up a school farm partly because the children wanted to improve the school and partly to enhance the curriculum we offer. We now have three ducks, several chickens and three pygmy goats. We have also kept pigs on a seasonal cycle. The children learn skills in feeding, watering, cleaning out and gain more information about the whole farming cycle.
Sensory Garden
Next to the farm area, there is a brand new Sensory Garden space which has been partly funded by local initiatives and our PTA. This is a quiet reflection space for children to use.
Outdoor Gym
Using our Sports Premium Funding, we commissioned a large outdoor gym area which can be used by children at playtime and as part of our keeping active initiative throughout the day. It is on an all weather surface at the edge of the playground which gives us all year round access.
