Outside Learning Space at Taverham Junior School

Taverham Junior School is a large and thriving school in Norfolk with around 400 pupils and has been run by the outstanding Head Paul Henman since 2016. Our work with Taverham was especially exciting as we are very interested in creating outside learning spaces at schools for a multitude of uses.

The Brief

The best schools think creatively and Taverham are always looking to improve the learning experiences their children will have when at school. They have developed a large vegetable patch near the main playground, leading activity's with the children in the afternoons. Paul and his team wanted to create a learning experience, where half the class work on the vegetable patch and the other half have an outside learning experience in the new outside classroom. A brilliant idea and a way to enable the children to be active and in nature, learning things useful for them for the future. The space needed to be large enough for at least half a class but also Paul started to see that this space could have other uses too such as a quiet space at lunch or play or a space for a child or children to go at any point of the day.

With this brief in mind the design team set about designing a Learning Area that would work for Paul and his school. With tweaks along the way the design took shape, we worked on a design that was aesthetically pleasing but practical for use, including a superb roof and drainage system and a custom built black board for the teacher or children to use. Paul shared the design with key members of his school like the PTFA and the Governors along with the staff and all agreed it was perfect. The designs below show the thought and craft that went into making sure this space was transformational for the children at Taverham Junior School.

Schools are adapting and changing all the time and the use of their outside space is more important than it has ever been. Children increasingly need places that are calm, closer to nature and schools need to create more spaces like this one in their schools as the main school building is usually busy and noisy. EYFS children play outside the whole year round and so like Taverham, schools should explore making more spaces outside for the children to use.