Nursery World Enabling Environments Award 2013 - Woodland House Nursery

Recipient: Woodland House Nursery

Date: Monday 30 Sep 2013

Woodland House won the Nursery World Enabling Environment Award in 2013 for its Beach School.
Nursery World is one of the largest Early Years magazines in the sector, who's awards are highly sought after!
The press coverage of the award explains why it was awarded:

The idea of launching a beach school came from nursery director Rebecca Clevett's numerous fun trips to nearby Severn Beach with her son.

She was always amazed at how much he thrived from the visits and how keen he was to return and continue various projects.

Christine James was appointed as beach school co-ordinator, supported by training funding from Bristol City Council, and the initiative was launched in June 2012. "People assume that we are not able to access a beach in the Bristol area. Although it may not be a typical Cornish sandy beach surrounded with rock pools, it still offers a huge variety of learning opportunities that satisfy a multitude of schemes and children's imagination and creativity," says Christine.

The activities include making mud pies and sand castles, mark making in mud and sand, collecting treasure along the shoreline and transforming these finds into sculptures back at the nursery, toasting marshmallows over a raised fire, using a Kelly kettle to heat drinking chocolate, and collecting and counting pebbles. The children can also experience running free and exploring. Even travelling to and from the beach is fun.

Up to 20 children go to the beach at any one time for a series of weekly sessions run throughout the year. Back at the nursery, they reflect on their experiences and plan what they want to do and take with them the following week.