safely Archives - Check Your Bauballs

Head of London’s outdoor education chain says open air learning should be used to fully reopen schools safely

A London outdoor teaching expert believes “forest schools” can be a model for fully re-opening English schools safely.

Leanna Barrett opened the capital’s first outdoor primary school, Liberty Woodland School in Worcester Park, last year.

Pupils aged four to 11 spend 95 per cent of the day outside, studying maths and English in the fresh air, even in winter.

Scottish local authorities revealed earlier this month that they are actively looking into outdoor learning as a model for reopening the country’s schools from August.

Students study academic subjects outdoors at the school - picture taken before the Covid-19 lockdown (Liberty Woodland School) — Students study academic subjects outdoors at the school – picture taken before the Covid-19 lockdown (Liberty

Teaching safely in a pandemic

Henrik Christensen looks tired.

Ever since the Danish government decreed its youngest children could go back to school, the principal of Marie Mørks School has been up late, planning logistics and sorting how to communicate with the families he serves. The youthful father runs a private school 30 miles north of the Danish capital of Copenhagen, and, with a toddler at home and a 12-year-old at the local public school, he understands the anxiety around bundling kids off to school during a pandemic.

“Of course, you are a bit nervous,” Mr. Christensen says. “But the children have missed school and