Wilder School - Olive Academy

Wild Learning Officer Joanne Atkins visited Olive Academy in Stowmarket for an initial meeting to discuss the Wilder Schools project. She had a tour of the school and the grounds, and we discussed which areas we might be able to improve for wildlife and for the children.

Assembly. 
Students and teachers discovered more about Wilder Schools and what we are hoping to achieve together and why we are doing it.

Our first session with the children, a small group of KS2 & 3 boys.  We went outside to find out what the boys think about nature and how connected they feel to nature.  It was a cold morning, so we made it into a game with some running about to keep warm.  The boys drew maps of the school grounds with existing features, some of them included what they would like to see in the grounds.  

We then measured some of the main areas we will work in and started looking more closely at what is already there.
 

Teacher training

16 staff members learnt how they can use the outdoors in their maths and English lessons, from measuring and ageing trees to using their senses to encourage descriptive language, writing poetry and stories inspired by nature in  their school grounds.