Enabling Environments - Outdoors - Rising to the Challenge

FIRST PRIZE WINNER

Old Town Children's Centre, Poole, Dorset

Opened a year ago, the Centre serves one of the 30 per cent most deprived communities in the country, with large numbers of workless families in social housing and high-rise flats. Its outdoor area is used both by children at the Centre's early years setting and by families attending the Centre's various sessions.

Children's Centre teacher and early years consultant Clare Schmieder, who prepared the winning entry, says, 'I am passionate about narrowing the gap between the achievement of the bottom 20 per cent of children and the rest by using outdoor space to develop confidence, creativity, exploration and learning, through child-initiated play.'

The main aims for the outdoor space are to provide free-flow access for all children, an attractive and adventurous space that encourages problem-solving, and areas for children and community members to grow flowers and vegetables.

A major feature of the development will be a large sand pit with staging to be used as a cover and for performances, along with a standpipe and wooden trough. Improved storage, a shallow pool, mud pit, upright tyres, a sensory garden, shrubs and small allotment plots are also among the plans.

Training, too, will be central to the project, in a bid to develop staff's understanding of and commitment to outdoor play. 'The most important resource is our staff so their commitment to using the outdoor area creatively is crucial,' says Clare.

Her hope, she says, is that the area will become 'an oasis in the middle of the town, with space where children who normally have no such opportunities will be able to learn through playing, experimenting, exploring ideas and growing plants.

'We have engaged the local ReConnect Community, Barnardo's Play- rangers and organic alloment members who will all be planting flowers and vegetables in the near future.'

Prizes: a Safe Shade canopy worth £6,000 (including installation), a Safe Shade graphics panel worth £2,000 (including installation), a Learning through Landscapes site visit worth £400, a year's subscription to Nursery World and LTL's Early Years Outdoors and a copy of LTL's PlayOut toolkit

SECOND PRIZE WINNER

Weldon C of E Primary School, Northamptonshire

Already in place at the school is an outdoor area in which play flows from one area to the next. The simple and open-ended nature of its design and resources allows children to express themselves, to become independent learners and to view the area as children's - not adults' - spaces.

The school, while capable of supporting all areas of learning within the EYFS, plans to make further additions to the outdoor space, including sensory and investigation areas, a workshop with real tools and wood, a sand shade and storyteller's chair. Also planned is a 'transition time', in which both reception and Year 1 children 'free flow' between the classrooms and the outdoor area.

The staff team want the outdoor space to have a calm and stress-free atmosphere and be a place where children can thrive and explore with enjoyment and challenge.

To help them formulate their plans, the school team involved the school council and governors, organised staff and parent questionnaires and a parent's evening, visited other settings and drew upon their discussions at EYFS team planning and review meetings - as well as consulting the children.

Early years co-ordinator Gemma Dexter says, 'Outdoors is special at our school because the holistic child is at the centre of all our thoughts. We believe that in the right environment, children will grow and develop into confident, happy, independent learners with unique skills to support them throughout their lives.'

Prizes: 20 sets of waterproof jackets and dungarees from Raindrops worth £700, a 'freeflow' curtain from Freeflow Curtains worth £100, a year's subscription to Nursery World and LTL's Early Years Outdoors and a copy of LTL's PlayOut toolkit

THIRD PRIZE WINNER

Archfield House Nursery School, Bristol

Archfield's ambition is to transform its smaller baby/toddler area into a more vibrant, interactive and creative learning space, so raising it to the standard already achieved for the setting's older children.

The nursery intends to extend the fencing, so maximising the space and increasing the scope for the youngest children to explore. A major feature of the extended space will be a cosy and sheltered sensory area, with cushioning for the very young babies.

EYP trainee Lee Brodie, who has a special interest in the outdoors and is overseeing the project as an EYP task, says, 'It's so important for under-twos to explore, but one of the main things we observed was that they like to come back for cuddles a lot, which is why we felt a cushioned safe area was so important.'

Activity tubs such as mobile wooden planters for sand and water play, increased access to nature, including bay trees and planters with plants, feathers, shells, improved flooring, musical instruments and interactivity boards also feature in the plans. The boards will be attached to a wall or fence as part of the nursery's continuous provision and include photographs, a mirror, puzzles, magnetic animals, a steering wheel and horns.

Plans for the area were based on staff observations, staff ideas submitted on feedback forms, input from the older children and findings from a parent questionnaire.

Prizes: a Crate Time den kit from TTS Group worth £200, a 'freeflow' curtain from Freeflow Curtains worth £100, a year's subscription to Nursery World and LTL's Early Years Outdoors and a copy of LTL's PlayOut toolkit

RUNNERS-UP

- Brooklands Day Nursery, Stafford

- The Cedars Neighbourhood Nursery, Exeter, Devon

- Early Years Childcare, Haywards Heath, West Sussex

- First Timers Pre-school, Wellingore, Lincolnshire

- Little Explorers Day Nursery, Rochester, Kent

- Loscoe Pre-school, Loscoe, Derbyshire

- Rompers Nursery, Allerton, Liverpool

The runners-up each win a year's subscription to Learning through Landscapes' Early Years Outdoors.