One of Collie’s kindergarten classes has aligned with an international education initiative designed to keep children engaged in outdoor learning and activities.
Fairview Primary School’s kindy class participated in Outdoor Classroom Day on Thursday, September 7.
Students involved themselves in water activities, play time in the mini-landscape, playing with boxes and making a camp fire. Students and teachers took part in a treasure hunt around the school, using an aerial map to see a bird’s eye view of the facility.
Fairview kindergarten teacher Vanessa Rankin-Hume was proud the school followed a national initiative and taught students the benefits of outdoor education.
“The whole purpose of it is to get kids outside because there have been lots of studies that show that children that are in touch with nature, that play outside, do better at school,” she said.
“Kids who just don’t get that opportunity to be outside, to be inventive and creative, really find school harder than children who do.
“Just being outside and going to a sports carnival or a sports session after school is not like just being outside and being creative and playing.”
The event saw over 10,000 schools from across the world and over 1400 Australian education organisations taking part.
According to Nature Play WA, 78 per cent of children spending regular time in unstructured outdoor play performed better in the classroom while 75 per cent were more creative and better at problem solving in the classroom.
