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This well thought out, custom design has been strongly inspired by our students, our beautiful school yard, our community culture and existing outdoor education program. Specifically designed to capture all aspects of our beautiful surroundings and maximize nature connection and learning!
Outdoor Learning Area REVISED Concept (1).pdfThe Classroom
The outdoor classroom structure includes a covered classroom area with four circular student work tables. On the wall is a locked storage cupboard and display board. The cupboard is double sided and can be accessed from the outside wall , as well, to allow students to sit on the grass outside as well when the weather is nice.
It is a timberframe structure with a metal roof and a concrete slab floor.
DID YOU KNOW??
The view of Raft Mountain from the outdoor classroom serves as a live living model of the bio-geoclimatic zones that surround us.
The structure’s location in itself is very strategic as it captures the best views and ideal sun & shade over the course of a school day.
The amphitheater is cut into the existing hillside and made of curving concrete topped with wooden slats. It will be the ideal setting for guest speakers, cultural presentations and outdoor music lessons! The roof is sloped to provide shade during the hottest part of the day and allow sun in the morning and evenings.
The butterfly roof line meets in the middle with a space to allow rain water and snow melt to run down the outside of the plexiglass, creating a waterfall effect. The water will feed into the plants at the top of the retaining wall and then trickle into our existing wetlands area.
Accessibility Pathway
The classroom structure is connect to the school with a curving pathway to make it wheelchair accessible. It enters the classroom learning zone through a steel archway that is partially burried in the ground. . The pathway creates a strong connection between the existing school building at the outdoor classroom inviting students and guests to follow the path and enjoy the space.
Learning Stations
Five Learning stations surround the main classroom area allowing students to break off into smaller groups or for independent work. The stations include a wetlands, pollinator garden, lilac lane, learning forest, and a shady grove of trees with dry dirt underneath. The shady grove is already a favourite place for students to dig and play car at recess and lunch. The stations are based loosely around the four earthly elements. The wetlands represents water, the pollinator garden is wind, the shady dirt patch is earth and we are hoping that someday it will be the future home of a mud kitchen for the early primary students during outdoor center time. Fire is still to be determined but we all know how essential the sun is for life on Earth and perhaps we can put a sun dial by the learning forest.
As well as being an inspiring classroom environment for structured lessons, the classroom is designed to to encourage curiosity and learning during unstructured times, so that children and adults may pause and explore learning opportunities just by being in and around the classroom and learning stations.
To achieve this unstructured learning, educational displays and labels will be added to each station and around the classroom. The labels will describe and highlight the plants and animals that are located around the classroom. Students and teachers will be invited to take on learning projects that include learning about plants and animals in the classroom area and creating the labels and pictures. Student made labels and lessons focused around the classroom area will help build a sense of connectedness and stewardship towards the classroom and it's stations.
First Nations Input and Design Features
The classroom itself will be suround by native plants such as oregon grape, hazelnut shrubs, soapberry (or xusem), saskatoon bushes and yarrow. Local First Nations will be consulted to help students label and describe the uses of each plant. The round structure of the amphitheater and presenters table creates a natural setting for cultural presentations.
Check out our idea gathering website here!
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