Now that’s character building... the nursery elf ’n’ safety forgot
‘Free to explore, imagine and learn’
But this is a run-of-the-mill activity at this award-winning nursery school – which is entirely outdoors. SEEING a four-year-old hacking at a pumpkin with a power drill might make some parents more than a little nervous.
Children can also be seen messing around in the mud, heaving bricks about to build forts, testing homemade bows and arrows, and playing on swings and slides they’ve built themselves.
For the youngsters at Dandelion Education nursery, who play outside in all weathers, make their own toys and play areas, and bought toys are not allowed.
Co-founder Hayley Room, 44, said: ‘We give them the tools and resources to make what they want to play with as this encourages them to think creatively and more critically. They made their own swing and chose where to put it. They wanted a castle, so they worked in a team to make it. The only limit is a child’s imagination.’
She added: ‘Being outdoors also does wonders for their health.’
The school was set up by Mrs Room and Emma Harwood in the village of Marsham, Norfolk, in 2015. Since then it has been named Nursery of the Year by education magazine Nursery World. In April it was rated outstanding by Ofsted, which said the teaching was ‘inspirational’, adding: ‘Children thrive in this stimulating outdoor nursery where they are free to play, explore, imagine and learn.’
Miss Harwood, 54, said: ‘We were both primary school teachers for a long time. We were very disillusioned and had a different idea of what education should look like.’ Mrs Room added: ‘The state system is no longer designed for children’s needs but more for bureaucrats and spreadsheets.
‘In that system, we are just teaching children to take exams and fit in a box.’
Dandelion Education is open for eight hours a day, 47 weeks a year. The only indoor structure is a yurt, used in extreme weather. There is also a reading pod with a partial roof but no sides.
The uniform, in winter, consists of three base layers under a waterproof fleece-lined suit, hat, gloves and thermal boots. In summer the children wear waterproof trousers, longsleeved tops and sun hats.
The rough and tumble of outdoor play naturally involves the odd scrape, although an ambulance has only been called twice, both minor incidents – a boy who fell into a hole he’d dug, and a boy who fell off a low plank.
Laura Bygrave, 33, whose daughter Ivy, four, has attended the nursery for two years, said it is ‘amazing’. TV psychologist Emma Kenny said being outside is excellent for children’s wellbeing and helps prevent stress.