In spring and autumn 2007 a class of twelve children with special educational needs used some of the Countryside Code resources to find out more about their local environment. The class teacher and learning support assistant worked closely together on this project.
‘We wanted to give the children hands-on experience of the outdoors and we felt that the resource offered an interesting way to do that. We chose activites which complimented our termly theme. We decided to take the children on trips to local beaches and woodland areas and carry out fieldwork. In preparation, we visited the sites, booked minibuses and sent out letters to parents seeking permission. We also carried out a full risk assessment in accordance with the school’s policy.
Before going out we discussed with the class what we were going to do. We asked the children what things they need to take with them. We used the ‘Be Prepared’ activity to do this. Children enjoyed filling the rucksack diagram with items which they wanted to take, although some of the suggestions were not entirely practical! .We also had a discussion about the Countryside Code and what it meant.’
On visits to Stackpole and Angle we recorded the litter that we found . Following a full risk assessment, we decided that we would allow children to collect items of litter as well as merely recording. Pupils loved the hands-on experience. They wore gloves and used litter sticks to pick up the litter which they found. They also enjoyed having a picnic after all their hard work!
‘Back at school they made drawings and wrote poems based on their experiences . We also drew on the children’s experiences when planning an assembly on the environment and created a classroom display.
‘We hope to arrange further visits to reinforce work already covered. We hope that such visits will enrich the children’s work within the classroom e.g. through drawings, writing, research.’