Barnaby Sandow envisions the natural world as a precious resource.
Lower School vegetable patch
Barny Sandow has just celebrated his first year as Head of School at ACS Cobham. And what a year it has been !
Not only has Barny moved across the world with his family back to the UK he has also had to lead a school of 1200 students through an unparalleled lockdown without a rule book. Undeterred by the size of the task still ahead, however Barny looks to the positives. “The challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic threw at us allowed us to accelerate some of our development ideas, stress test our systems and forge real bonds within our community in a way that would not have happened otherwise”
One silver lining for Barny during this new ‘Covid world’ is the opportunity to use the extensive campus grounds, facilities and surroundings at Cobham as an integral part of the curriculum. With no school trips one might think the options for outdoor learning are limited but Barny believes there is ample potential for this right on the doorstep.
“A huge amount of work and thinking has already gone into how we bring the outside into the classroom, but now we can look at our curriculum again, particularly in the STEM subject area, and let the campus environment inform new thinking and lesson design."
Such outdoor learning projects at Cobham include; the Lower School vegetable garden, designed by the students and started last year which teaches them about eco-systems, permacultures and sustainability. Explains Barny "Recently seeing the gardening club utterly engrossed in collecting their harvest was a brilliant moment. There was real, live, actual, tangible fruits of their labours that could be seen, touched and brought home to be shared. The feelings of achievement were clearly evident; lots of big smiles."
Having also planted 500 trees last year Lower School will next take part in National Forest “Plant a tree from seed” scheme'; and the Lower School pond has also been given a new lease of life. The Woodlands continue to offer endless opportunities for STEM from the youngest students right up to grade 12s; and the ‘Tom Tent’, an ACS Cobham landmark, has been renovated by the Cobham PSO, Scouts BSA and the Girl Scouts of America, making this a fantastic outdoor classroom for all ages and provides a valuable additional weather proof outside environment.
Faculty are also being trained in the ways of Forest school, with Chris Hupp now trained to deliver forest school training across Cobham, Egham and Hillingdon.
Wildlife and open space at Cobham
These projects and increased emphasis on outdoor learning help us and the students shape our view of sustainability, and importantly ensure that, with our guidance, we are creating a generation who are aware of their footprints and are ready to leave each environment better than they found it
The advantages of outdoor learning, in addition to promoting a wider understanding of sustainability, are clear: natural ventilation from fresh air; the children learn to manage risk and build up their resilience; it boosts wellbeing and makes that important practical link back to the classroom and particularly STEM. "
At ACS Hillingdon there have also been a number of initiatives to encourage working more outdoors where possible. A number of forest school organisations ran workshops for students and teachers in Lower School, with some Lower School staff undergoing official qualifications to run the courses in-house. This is a large undertaking and investment with accreditation taking up to 2 years to achieve. Weather is not a factor with all-weather clothing being kept at school to ensure the outdoors is accessible as often as possible.With 13 acres of the school and a further 14 acre fields and woodlands in Iver Fields not 10 minutes away, there is plenty of opportunity for outdoor learning. Music lessons, biology, drama, reading as well as the more expected sports programmes can all make use of the world around the campus. Kindergarten class recently came up with a new initiative to create a special garden made from recycled objects and reached out to the community for old boots, shoes, teapots, teacups, watering cans, colanders or jugs to act as plant pots. A number of shelters are also planned to provide more outdoor cover around campus for this Autumn.
At ACS Egham, outdoor learning is an integral part of the curriculum. From Forest School throughout the Lower School, to Drama, English, Science and even Maths lessons making use of the 20 acres of grounds where possible. The outdoors is not just for PE and sports !
ACS Egham has a designated forest school space with all of the lower school teachers qualified to run the programme. There are woodlands, ponds and grounds to explore, wildlife including deer, squirrels, rabbits and birds. Not to mention the school's very own chickens hatched from eggs in the classroom that are now laying their own eggs for the next intake of students' learning.
Egham's hatchlings
Forest School Trainer