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Out on Country & in Our Community
Early Years @ Phoenix Park offers an out on country and in our community program to all our age groups.
Throughout the week, groups of children will learn, play, and explore in the natural outdoor environments, as well as indoor environments our local community has to offer.
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This will include exploring local park lands, visiting local libraries, and utilising community services. ​
The activities involved will be varied — ranging from free and unstructured play with climbing and experimenting, to guided walks and more structured sessions.
Unifying principles of outdoor learning are to encourage child-led learning, enquiry and play, and uses a range of learner-centred processes to create a community for development and learning.
Why are we taking the learning outdoors?
Outdoors is not only a fantastic place for children to run, jump, explore and learn, but children who learn outdoors are less disruptive, show improved social skills, motor skills, and physical health. They develop resilience, self-awareness, independence, confidence, and creativity.
Being in the great outdoors and in our community, we aim to promote holistic development while connecting children to nature.
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The importance of learning outdoors is clearly identified in the Early Years Frameworks and National Quality Standards for Early Childhood.
As stated in Quality Standard 2, learning outdoors promotes a child’s health through relaxation, physical activity, and experience. By placing children in a natural outdoor setting, they have the opportunity for independent exploration, to participate in real-life projects, and care for the environment they live in.
Current research suggests that children need to spend much more time playing in our natural world.
When considering an early learning environment for your child, it is important to consider whether they run an outdoor/community program, and whether it is the right fit for you and your child.
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