It is our school mission to provide ‘Brighter futures for all!’ and what better place to start than building a love of the great outdoors into our curriculum.
For many of our children, life experiences may be limited due to the high levels of deprivation in the community. Being an inner city school, the access to nature, outdoor activities and the opportunities to try new things are reliant on funds, transport and expertise. It is our hope that through the development of our curriculum, we can begin to give children regular life experiences that will help them develop new hobbies and passion alongside the confidence to push themselves to try new things and experience their ‘Best Life!’
Through our exciting new curriculum focus, Children at RAMJS have the opportunity to embark on some amazing outdoor learning and as part of our quest, we are building our own outdoor learning space from scratch! Our children have a designated session, every other week, building on learning and life skills whilst impacting positively on our external environment.
What is most wonderful about this process is that as we develop our own forest and growing patches, fire pit and outdoor classroom, the RAMJS family will be part of planting the seeds for future generations of children to enjoy God’s world in all its wonder;
“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?”
Job 12:7-9
To compliment our new curriculum focuses, we are also planning lots of trips; the purposes of which is to give our children first hand experiences that both broaden their horizons and provide experiential learning opportunities. These trip are designed to allow children to experience different settings and develop an awareness of the different seasons.
The trips are underpinned by our school values:
Ambition-to gain a greater awareness of the locality; exploring new activities that impact on life chances and encourage new hobbies and enjoyments.
Courage-gaining the courage to try new activities and gaining a strong understanding of the activities that children enjoy/don’t enjoy to ensure a wider future prospect.
Respect–to build an understanding of the importance of respecting nature and our environment which positively impacts on the world around us and beyond.
Love–to develop a love of nature, the outdoors and a passion for trying new experiences that broaden life chances.
Hope-to give hope to our community and our future generations of a sustainable, respected and loved planet based on a sound foundation of respect for the world in which we live.
Faith-to find peace and tranquillity in the world around us; recognising the gifts bestowed upon the world by our own individual God whilst using our own personal faith and beliefs to demonstrate thanks for all we have by taking care of our environment.
We look forward to updating our school community with regular posts about this exciting learning that is taking place. You can find more information on our school website – https://www.ramjs.lancs.sch.uk/outdoor-learning/
If you want to see the proof about why this project is so important, these wonderful smiles are telling us the huge value and impact this work is already having!
ramjsblog.com 