Campaigner Cath Prisk, our Schools Network lead, has been considering how schools can make far greater use of nearby outdoor space in response to the Government’s recommendations that schools open in stages:

As London’s Primary Heads wrestle with the whether, when and how of reopening their schools, they may need to drastically rethink the school day and the learning environment.

The current, and urgent, debate around school opening leads me to propose two key questions for London schools:

• What if we adopted a Scandinavian approach, with more time outdoors?
• What if every school made using outdoor space a substantial part of every day?

What would be needed to make this happen? Could such an approach lead to happier, healthier, more resilient children who are ready to learn and more inspired to look after the planet? (Hint, that’s what the research suggests…)

These questions are already part of the policy debate.

The DfE Planning Guide for Primary Schools[1] and the supplementary guidance ‘Implementing protective measures in education and childcare settings’[2]  both invite schools to consider how they can use outside space for exercise, breaks and outdoor education where possible, as this can limit transmission and more easily allow for distance between children and staff.

There has been such a flurry of guidance and commentary these short statements seem to have been largely overlooked, but the official endorsement is there:

Taking classes outdoors is not only possible, it is recommended by the DfE.

 So, on to the necessary considerations…

Do London Schools have the space?

Most London schools have playgrounds, and many have school gardens or playing fields nearby, which they can use. Some do not, but they may have regular access to nearby parks and streets. Unlike in other countries (India and the USA mostly[3]) it is a very rare school that has no playtime or access to outdoors[4].

If space is limited, with local authority support, schools could look to close the streets around them[5], to create extra square metres for play, and make parents’ drop off and pick up (on foot of course!) easier and safer. As the GLA is already rethinking urban space to prioritise pedestrians and cyclists, Heads may find it much easier to facilitate this now, compared to pre-lockdown.

As we enter late June and July schools may need to rig up sun shelters, and schools will definitely need to invest in sets of clothes for children and staff, to protect them from summer sun or English rain. Nonetheless, taking all lessons outdoors is physically possible.

Do London Schools have the skills to take lessons outdoors and make playtimes more playful?

Planning to move teaching outdoors and to extend playtimes involves the same sort of careful transition as say, introducing team teaching (or indeed remote learning). It may be a bit of a learning curve – and require sun lotion or extra warm hats – but it can also be one of the most rewarding changes teachers can make.

The Outdoor Classroom Day campaign has guidance written by experts in outdoor learning[6] and in creating playful environments[7] that can help start schools’ journeys, as well as providing connections to thousands of other schools on the same path. This guidance is available in multiple languages too – useful in multi-lingual London! The campaign was founded here in London and you can find all the other London schools involved just by looking at the map.

A number of organisations, such as Learning through Landscapes, EcoSchools and The Garden Classroom, offer training packages giving teachers the basic skills they need. Support is also available from Groundwork, Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (CLOtC), Trees for Cities, the Scrapstores, OPAL CiC and others – all of whom can help in planning to make the best use of the outdoors in line with current guidance.

Over the last few years, many London schools have developed remarkable forest schools, garden learning, chicken coops, bee-hives and Eco-groups. In addition, London already has several award-winning all-outdoor nurseries such as Free Range Urban Kids in Hackney. In September last year the first all outdoor primary school was opened – Liberty Woodland School in Wimbledon.

Those starting out on this journey will find help is just a tweet away.

Outdoor play and learning (c) Cath Prisk

What difference would it make?

As we weigh up the risk and benefit of re-opening schools, it is vital we balance the risk of potential transmission against the benefit of socialisation and a return to learning and community.

Every teacher knows children spread illness. However, the evidence is emerging to suggest children may be less at risk of catching coronavirus and less likely spread it.[8]  With outdoor learning as a default, the risk of transmission could be reduced, as children and teachers can more easily social distance outside. David Sobel (2004), in one seminal study noted how students in an ‘Outdoors in All Weather’ programme reported suffering 80% fewer infectious diseases (colds, sore throats etc.) than children in conventional programmes[9]. This is echoed in almost every evaluation of outdoor learning undertaken – and comes through loudly on Outdoor Classroom Day every year.

Juliet Robertson, author of Messy Maths and Dirty Teaching says one immediate benefit of opening schools would be to counter the effect lockdown is having on children’s mental health: ‘Being outside, especially in greenspace is known to reduce stress levels in children and adults. Cortisol levels drop. Furthermore, as studies indicate, transmission rates of COVID-19 are significantly lower outside, so if children are unable to keep their social distance, it may not be of such significance as indoors.’

More play, more resilience

The biggest difference for children right now could simply be being able to play with other children and to re-connect to the world around them.

While everyone is focusing on the lessons children are missing, it’s their socialisation and mental health needs that are of greatest concern to children’s health professionals across the country. In a recent news article Sam Cartwright-Hatton, Professor of Clinical Child Psychology at the University of Sussex, said: ‘All the research indicates that children’s emotional health is suffering in the lockdown and it seems likely that this suffering will, in many cases, continue into the long term.’[10] 

Families I work with through Outdoor People have told us their normally cheerful children are crying for no reason; and that younger children are regressing a little, demanding to sleep in the same bed as their parents. Online playdates are fun up to a point, but even parents and older siblings have had enough of Zoom. As stress levels increase, homeschooling has got harder.

Dr Jenny Gibson, Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Education at the University of Cambridge recently said: ‘It’s easy to dismiss play as unimportant, but for children, playing with friends and classmates has a very significant impact on their social development.

‘Critically, it is an important way of working through emotions ... for that reason it’s important that whatever steps are taken to ease social distancing restrictions, children are given time and space to play with friends.’[11]

Children may well be playing differently in the next few weeks and months, as they have had to cope with new experiences, possibly traumatic ones. It is essential that they have the time, space and opportunity to work through these experiences.

As the play theorist Brian Sutton Smith said, play makes the world less boring and less scary[12]. The International Play Association Play in Crisis resources for parents [13] summarise this:

‘Playing allows children to express anger and frustration safely without harming other people, and without getting harmed themselves. It helps them work through scary, confusing feelings that they may have been bottling up.

‘Playing is one of the ways children adapt to change.’

Can we capitalise on the learning that happened in lockdown?

Over the last few weeks it seems everyone in London has suddenly realised the importance of the natural world in their lives, in a way that may have been unthinkable only a few months ago.

One of the children that started coming on Outdoor People’s Wild Walks five years ago, has spent the last eight weeks becoming an expert on newts, and now the lockdown has been eased he and his mum are exploring parks and rivers across London finding more of them. It’s an experience that may shape his life forever.

To build up a deep connection to nature, so that you care about it and want to protect it, requires just two things: regular everyday access to an outdoor space nearby that you can visit and spend time in, and a knowledgeable supportive mentor to help you develop your regard for nature[14].

For some children this last eight weeks will have furnished that. For others, perhaps it could be the next eight weeks?

Outdoor lesson on dragonflies, pre-physical distancing and coronavirus (c) Tim Webb

What if we changed the way children learn for good?

Over the next few weeks, school leaders and educators will need to reflect, respond and adapt. One thing is certain, however: the shape of the school day is guaranteed to look very different from January this year.

So… What If London schools made full use of their outdoor spaces as they re-open, whether in June or later in the year? Maybe today’s Year Sixes will at least be able to spot a newt and understand the lifecycle of an apple tree. Teachers and pupils would be calmer and happier. Children may be able to more quickly adapt and re-connect to their safe place of learning. And your school may have time to develop the skills to sustain outdoor learning and to create great play spaces that will be of benefit to your school community – and your teachers – for many years to come.

Thursday, 21 May was Outdoor Classroom Day… As we weren't able to mark it in the traditional way of escaping classrooms, supporters dressed-up to celebrate, with many sharing images on social media - #PlayfulNature.

Find out more here: https://outdoorclassroomday.org.uk/

Join the London National Park City Schools Network here: http://www.nationalparkcity.london/schools-network

Cath is an ex-teacher and a campaigner for children’s rights to be outdoors. Six years ago she set up a social enterprise, Outdoor People, supporting children and families to get outdoors every day, and has been the Global Partnerships Director for Outdoor Classroom Day for the last five years. Last year she convened the London National Park City Schools Network, which is bringing together all of us that care about connecting schools to all the amazing outdoor space London has to offer.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-schools-from-1-june/planning-guide-for-primary-schools

[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings#class-or-group-sizes

[3] https://outdoorclassroomday.org.uk/resource/muddy-hands-report/

[4] ibid

[5] http://schoolstreets.org.uk/where/

[6] https://outdoorclassroomday.org.uk/resource/getting-going-outdoor-learning/

[7] https://outdoorclassroomday.org.uk/resource/making-playtime-key-part-school-day/

[8] https://rethinkingchildhood.com/2020/05/14/covid-19-children-science-lockdown-schools-childcare-outdoor-play/

[9] https://outdoorclassroomday.org.uk/resource/muddy-hands-report/

[10] https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/may/07/prioritise-play-when-schools-reopen-say-mental-health-experts-coronavirus-lockdown

[11] ibid

[12] https://www.thedeveloper.live/places/stop-the-traffic-and-make-uk-streets-into-public-spaces-during-lockdown?fbclid=IwAR365yK1R08utVd7ZFqBfex5g1mv9Dx4tN9uBqeAT4547BJjaoyGhOHisoA

[13] http://ipaworld.org/resources/for-parents-and-carers-play-in-crisis/

[14] http://natureforall.global/why

The UK has been in lockdown this spring. Our worlds are far smaller than before. 

It reminds me of being a child, needing to tell my parents where I was going, not straying too far away from home. That all changed when I got my first bike! I could explore my village from edge to edge and still be home in time for tea. My world suddenly got bigger, I became an explorer. I’ve been hooked on cycling ever since.

Cycling in the city doesn’t come so naturally for many people though. Without years to build up your confidence, London’s roads can look scary. Parents rarely let their kids out on their bikes alone, and many adults see danger at every junction. Dare I say that some cyclists have a bad reputation in London and so people may be cautious about joining that tribe?

In London, where roads cover 12% of the total area of the city, more land is devoted to roads than to houses and flats¹. What if all that space was available to everyone so that they could roam freely and safely on their bikes?

During the lockdown so far, I’ve seen many more people out cycling. Families taking their daily exercise together on two wheels. Couples riding Santander Cycles to stretch their legs as an escape from their cramped flats. NHS workers being gifted bikes to help them travel safely to their hospitals. The more people who spend part of their time journeying on a bike and part of their time journeying on their feet, the more we all learn to see the world from different perspectives.

Many of London’s Councils have been responding positively, creating ‘pop up’ cycle lanes². The Mayor and TfL are creating segregated cycle lanes on the network of London’s larger roads³. And now the UK Government has announced dramatic plans to encourage more cycling and walking⁴.

The support and enthusiasm from our politicians at all levels is exciting. But what really makes me positive about the future of cycling in the city is what community groups and local charities are doing around helping people get on their bikes.

• Cycle Sisters⁵ encourages muslim women to discover the enjoyment of cycling, boosting their confidence and their fitness.
• Bikeworks CIC are planning on launching a Ride Side-By-Side⁶ service for older people to use as an active travel taxi service that they describe as a pedal-powered version of Dial A Ride.
• Recycle Your Cycle⁷ and The Bike Project⁸ take your rusty old bike and give it a new lease of life. One trains up prisoners so that they can become bike mechanics on release, the other donates the bikes to refugees, giving them mobility for free.
• Bikeability Trust⁹ runs the government-backed programme that helps us all to learn to cycle.

What if all these changes do lead to more people cycling in London in the future? What if more streets were transformed into mini-Holland schemes like we have seen in Walthamstow¹⁰? What if we saw the end of polluted air outside schools as more people switch their cars for pedal power¹¹? What if your GP prescribed cycling to help you lead a healthier and happier lifestyle¹²?

What if we made the most of these positive desires and locked them in when the lockdown lifts? Send us your ideas using the hashtag #WhatIf.

David Cope, National Park City Foundation Trustee

1.  http://www.nationalparkcity.london/component/content/article/8-place/53-london-in-numbers?Itemid=1116

2. https://twitter.com/willnorman/status/1258345675571462145?s=20 

3. https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/mayoral/mayors-bold-plan-will-overhaul-capitals-streets

4.  https://www.gov.uk/government/news/2-billion-package-to-create-new-era-for-cycling-and-walking

5. https://www.facebook.com/CycleSistersWalthamstow

6. https://www.bikeworks.org.uk/what-is-ride-side-by-side

7. http://recycleyourcycle.org.uk/

8. https://thebikeproject.co.uk/pages/mission

9. https://bikeability.org.uk/

10. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/mini-holland-scheme-in-walthamstow-hailed-as-major-success-as-traffic-falls-by-half-a3389936.html

11. https://www.mumsforlungs.org/about-school-streets

12. https://metro.co.uk/2020/05/09/government-says-doctors-will-prescribe-cycling-make-people-fitter-12679108/

Just before the coronavirus hit, there were several projects about to launch after successful crowdfunding bids. Here are three great examples of the ingenuity and creativity of communities reshaping their environments and making London greener, healthier and wilder.

Ride side by side

Bikeworks CIC in Hammersmith and Fulham raised £30,000 for this scheme to get senior members of their community involved in active travel.

Participants will be over 60, have an issue with mobility, be socially isolated, or be visually impaired. People will book a trip by phone. A rider will pick them up, riding a side by side cycle and take them on a trip of their choice for an hour and half. They can choose to go shopping, visit a friend, visit a local amenity such as local park, or just explore their areas and get some exercise. They will get help at their destination, such as help with carrying shopping or getting on and off the cycle. Participants can choose to pedal or just enjoy the ride in fresh air. The riders will be trained in cycling and cycle mechanics, managing risk, working with older people and have an up to date DBS check. They will be sociable and friendly.

Ride side by side © Bikeworks CIC

The project will help people least likely to get their recommended amount of exercise, bringing them health benefits. It will enable them to get out in the fresh air and explore their local area. They will be visible to others giving the locale a more balanced representation of its residents.

By giving people the opportunity to be active, the service will reduce participants reliance on the NHS, since it will improve their well-being due to the exercise and the conviviality.

Ride Side-by-Side will tackle loneliness and isolation. People will have an opportunity to chat with their co-rider (pilot), interact with others, tell stories about themselves and reminisce.

Active travel and chat © Bikeworks CIC

Ride Side-by-Side will help people with things they need to do like shopping, visit friends and family, explore the borough or get to an appointment. It will have a broader impact with regards reducing motorised trips and showcase active, emissions free travel.

In Hackney, the Kings Crescent Tenants and Residents Association crowdfunded more than £17,000 to transform a shop into a new community space. The dream: a beautiful venue to host fun & inspiring activities & events serving their diverse estate residents & the wider community.

The project is supported by Hackney Council and the Mayor of London  © Kings Crescent Tenants and Residents Association

The new space is a raw, fully accessible 360 square metre shop front unit, which we will make habitable and beautiful. We’re so excited to be joining forces with local arts charity Hackney Showroom to transform this new unit into a dynamic community space and work together with the community to dream up new plans for activities and events for all. The adjoining play street will be utilised too, enabling even more community activities to be run outdoors in suitable weather.

Play Street © Kings Crescent Tenants and Residents Association

The TRA plan to deliver a timetable of activities in line with the wishes expressed by Kings Crescent residents. Ideas requested from the community so far include cookery demonstrations, street parties, a book club, homework club, youth club, gentle exercise for older residents and music events.

Hackney Showroom is delivering a programme of creative & cultural projects including: FUTUREHEADS, a holiday project for 8-11 year olds; Disco Loco, a family arts programme for the very young and their families; Hackney Showroom Young Actors, a high level skills based training course for 16-25 year olds serious about a career in acting.

We are so thrilled to be able to enjoy a meaningful collaboration with Hackney Showroom and think this coming together has bags of potential! Our contrasting strengths will really be an asset to the community - the TRA with our grassroots engagement with local residents, and Hackney Showroom with their expertise in conjuring up inspirational activity, is a recipe for a great future for our local community.

“We are excited to be partnering with Hackney Showroom on this venture as they bring a vast amount of knowledge, experience and connections.”  

For more information on the Kings Crescent regeneration project, visit: https://www.hackney.gov.uk/kings-crescent-estate.

Streatham Community Woodland Project

The project will protect the woodland habitats for future generations and increase the wildlife and habitats. The activities will give the communities skills, knowledge and a sense of belonging.

© Streatham Common Co-operative (SCCoop)

The project aims to increase wildlife and prevent address the decline of the woodland from water erosion and trampling. They’ll do this by creating a wild trail pathway through the woods and by fencing off areas to allow wildlife to thrive. This, and some other planned work, will provide areas of additional interest for all users of the Common.

The project aims to inspire long-term volunteer involvement with the woods and nature reserve; building relationships with people whilst building habitats for wildlife. The existing volunteers come from a cross section of the surrounding communities, already engaged with local primary schools, colleges and groups representing local people with social difficulties, such as homeless charities.

Why it's a great idea:

Is essential for the wildlife that the group makes it a resilient habitat. Improved biodiversity will be delivered through a series of volunteer activities under the guidance of the Head Ranger. Scrub and brambles will be cleared to allow more light to penetrate and enable other plant species to populate the woodland floor. There will be removal of invasive species from the woodland area and improvement of the soils where needed. Following that we will plant young indigenous trees, other understorey woodland plants and meadow plants to enhance butterfly and other insect numbers. New hedgerows will also be created to form an enhanced corridor beyond the woods.

© Streatham Common Co-operative (SCCoop)

The project will bring the wider community closer and broaden the reach of the woodland to many that may not know of its existence.

What if?

#WhatIf... there was more funding for initiatives like this post coronavirus? 

#WhatIf... more people actively crowdfunded projects to make London greener, healthier and wilder?

Staying safe by staying at home needn’t mean missing out on a daily dose of nature, says Paul de Zylva, Chair of London National Park City.

Now’s also a good time to start planning life after lockdown including how life in London can be greener, healthier and wilder.

Life inside out

Spring has sprung and we all need to get out more, don’t we? But just as people want to be out and about, the coronavirus lockdown confines us to quarters.

Staying inside is tough and we’ll have to see how it affects the nation’s physical and mental health.

At least it’s springtime. Without being pollyannaish just imagine if the nights were drawing in and we faced the prospect of a lockdown Christmas. We want to be cosy indoors at Christmas but at least we can choose to get out for exercise.

As the sap rises, trees come into leaf and bees busy themselves, the springtime lockdown is fuelling our desire to escape the confines of four walls, however homely, and to head to parks and the great outdoors for exercise and contact with nature.

People have also told me, and are saying on social media, how they’re noticing things they usually miss or take for granted.

Or, in the case of author, Alan Cleaver, who amusingly admitted on twitter: 

“Living next to a pub, I'm used to late-night revellers shouting but what really annoyed me was the chap who would imitate an owl hoot around 2.30am every night. Now pubs are shut I realise the hooting still goes on and it's not a drunk. It is actually an owl.” @thelonningsguy

And he lives in ‘the countryside’.

In our busy ‘normal’ lives there’s no time to look, listen and appreciate our surroundings is there? Or perhaps we don’t make the time. Besides, there’s always something else to do.

But even now, when it’s easier than ever to be distracted by devices, online chats, exercise and learning courses, people are noticing things. Birdsong is being heard as never before thanks to it being spring but aided by the lack of noise from traffic-free roads and aircraft-free skies.

London’s air is also cleaner than usual and its streets safer to cross. We are not alone in enjoying some of these new experiences. Residents of Los Angeles have also enjoyed the rarity of clean air. People in northern India are enjoying unusually clear views of the Himalayas, and the shutdown in Japan coincides with the tradition of viewing (‘Hanami’) of the cherry blossom.

Declarations of optimism

On a walk soon into the lockdown I saw the brilliant white hawthorn in full bloom. A few weeks later the foaming mass is gone. Even the powers of flowers can’t resist the cycle of the seasons. It’s not sad, it’s what happens. Like other plants, the hawthorn will now move on, shifting to the next seasonal gear and focussing on forming its small red berries (haws) for birds to feast on during lean winter months. 

Meanwhile, the hedge will provide all manner of wildlife with shelter, materials and more. And the blooms will be back next spring, and perhaps even during Easter. 

Easter weekend has passed but, as Christians may point out, we’re still in Eastertide - the fifty days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday. In ancient Greek the word ‘Anastasi’ means ‘to rise’ and ‘resurrection’. It also means ‘to emerge’ and ‘to shift’ toward a higher ‘arisen’ or awakened state.

Spring’s sights and sounds also herald the start of the gardening season with many tending their window boxes, balconies and houseplants and, if they have one, their garden or allotment.

Sales of seeds have rocketed as many have a go - often for the first time - at sprouting microgreens on a window sill, making bee-friendly pit-stops of their pots and planters, or food growing Dig for Victory-style.

If ever there was a declaration of optimism it’s the springtime sowing of seeds and nurturing them into plants. Sharing and swapping seeds and seedlings is also trending as part of the renewed sense of community as neighbours talk, often for the first time, help with shopping, give to food-banks and support local businesses.

Park and pounds

London’s parks and green spaces are also being valued as never before. Long before the lockdown studies stated how routine access to nature and green space supports good physical and mental health.

Some GPs have also been advising patients to increase their time spent in nature and the great outdoors rather than rely on prescription medicines.

As if more evidence of how green space is good for us was needed, a 2017 study of the financial benefit to our health of London’s parks found they save £370 million a year in avoided mental ill-health costs alone – that’s £42 per person every year.

That’s fine if your area is well served with green space, but not all communities in the capital have equal access to parks and green open space.

Greening the grey

The London borough of Tower Hamlets has 300 hectares of public parks. Having the equivalent of 300 rugby pitches sounds a lot but it’s just 14 percent of the borough which covers 2,200 hectares.

For people living in Tower Hamlets, from Bethnal Green and Canary Wharf to Limehouse, Poplar and Wapping, that means having poor access to public parks in London for a hint of a breath of fresh air – if they’re lucky – or for a break from the glass, steel and concrete jungle.

The government values parks and green spaces too. In its 18 April covid-19 briefing, the Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick, ordered parks to be kept open during lockdown:

“…there have been examples of some parks around the country closing. This cannot be right. While the virus does not discriminate, we know that the lockdown is much harder for people who don’t have a lot of living space, who don’t have a garden, and who don’t have anywhere for their children to run around.

“People need parks. That’s why I have made it clear to councils that all parks must remain open. For the health of the nation, people should be able to safely enjoy fresh air and green space.”

I couldn’t agree more, but it doesn’t help that government policy and funding cuts mean our parks and green spaces are in decline and often face development pressures.

More of the good stuff, please

The huge demand by millions of people for green space right now says loud and clear the government can and must start meeting people’s needs, not preventing us from having more of the good stuff which we want (and need) for our health and wellbeing. 

There’s also the matter of people in flats. Some of my neighbours who rent are prevented from using the garden, which is madness even in ‘normal’ times. With that denial being underlined by the lockdown perhaps they’d like to have the opportunity. 

Who knows? Perhaps this will also challenge thinking that new housing shouldn’t have or does not need much or any garden space which is touted by some, but not all, developers, architects and planners.

The usual mantra of things being too expensive, or that parks and green space have to be developed for our own good won’t wash. 

What If?

We CAN have quality, truly affordable housing AND quality local green space that’s good for us and for the birds and the bees - it’s time for our own recovery to be planned with that of nature.

What if we emerged from this crisis with plans to make our streets, neighbourhoods and city greener, healthier and wilder? 

That doesn’t have to be a dream. It’s what thousands of people from all walks of life have worked for by getting behind London National Park City.

What if we made the most of these positive desires (#WhatIf) and locked them in when the lockdown lifts?

Send us your What If? ideas using the hashtag #WhatIf