Llantarnam Community Primary School has started a £20,000 fundraising campaign to create a new outdoor learning area.
The Crowdfunder page from the school’s PTA says:
“At Llantarnam Primary we know that a wide range of learning experiences are vital to children’s education and wellbeing. Ideally, children should be able to have outdoor educational opportunities no matter what time of year, but in our unpredictable British climate, this is easier said than done!
“However, in 2021 as part of post-Covid funding to enhance outdoor learning provision, we were able to build external shelters for our Nursery and Reception classes, enabling the children to learn and play outside, whatever the weather.
“The positive impact that this has had has been phenomenal – our children have a wonderful external learning environment, in rain or shine!
“Being able to access experiential outdoor educational learning at all times, means that our Nursery and Reception children have a nature-infused range of learning provision, with almost seamless flow between indoor and outdoor learning.
“We know that children are learning all the time, absorbing information from new and varied experiences – so even playing in the water tray, or make-pretend in the shop, is an educational opportunity.
“Having access to messy play and a range of role playing environments is so important to 21st Century Learning, and as an extension of the classrooms, our outdoor shelters enable us to accommodate and adapt our learning provisions as needed throughout the year.
“Having seen the difference the shelters make to our children in Nursery and Reception, we have been spurred on to try and provide the same indoor-outdoor learning environment to all our pupils, in order to offer a fully balanced approach to our educational provision, to allow all pupils, from Nursery to year 6, to engage in a variety of activities regardless of the weather!
“It is a large undertaking, and will have to be done in stages – our first target is to replicate the shelters as a mirror image on the other side of the school, which will mean that our year 1 and 2 classes will have outdoor learning access all year round.
“Our school community is amazing, and with the help of our PTA we are nearly half way to being able to fund our shelters, but we are asking help from the wider community to help us over the final hurdle.
“We have a dedicated bank account for our shelter fund, and all monies raised (small Crowdfunder transaction fee aside) will go directly to helping us reach our target.
“We hope to get construction started in August 2025, but we will continue fundraising as long as is necessary until we have reached our target.
“Any donation, no matter how small, will be greatly appreciated.
“With thanks, from everyone at Llantarnam Community Primary School.”
Donate to the campaign
Visit the PTA’s Crowdfunder page to find out more and make a donation.