The forest schools programme and initiative in the UK is definitely gaining momentum as we do now receive quite a few enquiries from schools who are looking for outdoor shelters for forest schools which they can use in these designated areas. A common request is to provide for some sort of outdoor shelter or outdoor classroom provision […]
We have taken the traditional open-sided, gazebo style outdoor classroom – in all its sizes and shapes including octagonal, square and rectangular – and adapted it for the many and varied uses that an educational establishment now demands. Typically due to the nature of the need or requirement, the building needs to be totally enclosed and […]
There are so many times that I have visited schools and seen picnic tables made out of recycled plastic sitting on the school playground. Not just one but typically quite a few of them. You then ask the school staff why they purchased them and the response is always the same – they simply just last […]
A lot of our outdoor classrooms and school classroom buildings feature cedar as the principal default timber or as external cladding on our timber framed buildings. And there are some very good reasons for this from a school’s point of view & perspective. We list below some of cedar’s principal qualities and why it is […]
We were recently approached with an interesting enquiry from the head teacher of a primary school with a nursery provision. Basically they wanted…or needed…some extra space to be used for a whole host of reasons – namely break out sessions, nurture room, outdoor learning, extra space for the 2 year olds for the nursery and last but […]
We are constantly asked as to whether outdoor classrooms require planning permission and if they are also subject to building regulation approval. Always a tricky subject to have a 100% definitive answer but there are certain guidelines to work to. I will list these below: Planning Permission – the majority of our outdoor classroom installations have […]
I have been to a few schools recently where they have been looking for some sort of structure for an outdoor learning or forest school provision. So could be an outdoor classroom, shelter, early years provision, reading hut, break out or nurture room etc And the school has been considering yurts into their overall mix […]
We have just been made aware of a new grant from the Aviva Community Trust which schools could be eligible to apply for. You can apply for quite a bit of money (up to £25K) and having looked at how you enter (they have some very good and easy to use instructional videos on their […]
We have quite a few phone calls from schools requesting information on a classroom building and before I can even start to give any advice or indication on price, I have found that there are about half a dozen questions I need to ask back before I can do this! It is quite a big […]
We were approached earlier in the year by a school in North East London who were wanting to encourage their pupils to take their outdoor lessons and performances outside. The brief was fairly straight forward – it had to easily blend in with its immediate environment, not be too “show-y”, had to cater for a […]