St Albert’s Catholic Primary School team up with university students to create outdoor learning zone

Children at St Albert's Catholic Primary School in Stockbridge Village have dug in to help create a new community orchard and outdoor learning zone behind their school.

The new area, created on Knowsley Council open access land neighbouring the popular Mab Lane Community Woodland, will include wildflower meadows as well as hazel, willow and sweet chestnut trees.

The children were assisted in their tree planting efforts by students from Liverpool John Moores University who have been learning about the development of the Mab Lane woodland as part of their environmental science and geography degree in a module called 'Sustainable Natural Heritage' which explores the cultural and social aspects of conservation and how it engages the wider community.

The outdoor learning zone will be used by St Albert's pupils for regular outdoor lessons, delivered by teachers from the school who have trained as "Forest School" leaders. Research has shown that teaching children outdoors using the natural environment leads to calmer, more physically active kids. What's more, by getting children hooked on nature and inviting parents to come and be part of some of the sessions, it encourages whole families to visit the great outdoors more often.

The project was coordinated by The Mersey Forest as part of Access to Nature, a national scheme run by Natural England and funded by the Big Lottery Fund. The outdoor learning area was funded by The Big Tree Plant and Cory Environmental Trust in Britain (CETB) through the Landfill Communities Fund.

Angela Haymonds from CETB said: "Getting children learning outdoors brings so many positives – and it's great to support a project that has got the children involved right from the start."

Lorraine McEvoy, head teacher at St Albert's, said: "We're currently using Little Wood for our Forest School sessions which the children really enjoy, and we're now looking forward to having another great venue right outside the gate for even more children to benefit from."