Growing a love for nature

Our Centre philosophy has always encouraged healthy exploration and respect for the outdoors, and we think regular excursions in nature are an essential way to foster and extend these ideas. Being out in an open space, immersed in nature, supports unlimited new opportunities for children to learn.

As a result, a love of nature grows. We have found, as we see the ways children treat the natural world—with care and respect— that children learn to protect what they love.

During these repeat experiences at our favourite natural sites, children develop a thirst for learning and a passion to push themselves to research and explore possibilities not tackled before. They learn to be eco-citizens and culturally responsive learners. They learn to see themselves in relationship with the natural world.

We have put a lot of thought into how we organise the structure of these trips and we wish to offer this opportunity to every child. Continuity of learning has always been an important part of our learning culture, and we make sure that this culture is supported in the natural world too. For this reason, we would like children to have as many continuous opportunities to revisit our natural landscapes as possible so they can build on prior knowledge and return to their plans and research each week.

We are unhurried and have no preset agenda. Children then have time for deep engagement with learning that matters to them.