Alfresco Learning in Outdoor Classroom for Benson C of E Primary School

An Oxfordshire school has added an extra dimension to learning by installing an outdoor classroom.

An Oxfordshire school has added an extra dimension to learning by installing an outdoor classroom.

The pupils of Benson C of E Primary, Wallingford, are delighted with the new learning experience and using it to the full.

"It's simply fantastic!" said the school's head teacher, Linda Neele. "We use it all the time, not just as an outdoor classroom, but at playtimes it's the perfect shelter from the sun or rain, it's an ideal meeting place for the children and a great favourite with parents at home time, especially when the weather is wet."

The children, who helped to choose the outdoor play equipment, said they were also looking forward to using the shelter as a picnic area and a place to relax or play quietly at break and lunch times with board games or books.

The wooden octagonal outdoor classroom was created by one of the country's premier providers of playground equipment, Playforce, an award-winning company dedicated to designing childrens play equipment apparatus that supports learning and develops children's minds and bodies through fun.

The money to pay for the outdoor classroom was made through a range of fund-raising activities organised by FOBS - Friends of Benson School - and supported not just by the school community but also by members of the surrounding village of Benson.

"We had great fun with the fund-raising," explained Mrs Neele. "The FOBS members worked so hard organising lots events like a barn dance, quizzes, a pampering evening, dog show, fares, fetes and a disco when all the adults had to dress as children. The last six months has been quite a social whirl!"