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Connect Education Trust
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Curriculum Driver: Environment

At Grange Park we aim to integrate sustainable development and outdoor learning into our curriculum and development plans and ensure that resources and training are available to support them.

We use our extensive school grounds to deepen connections with nature, support mental health and well-being, and promote inclusive and engaging learning. All pupils have opportunities to enjoy our Forest School provision either as part of their weekly timetable, for example, when in Reception, or as emersion days at different times of the year. Year 3 and 4 children spend a day orienteering and playing team-building games which culminates in on-site camping with singing around our specially constructed fire pit. Our allotments provide the perfect opportunity to encourage children to adopt healthier lifestyles by engaging in physical activity and growing a range of healthy foods. The preparation of school-grown fruit and vegetables is linked to our D&T curriculum, whilst how we grow and care for plants, and the ecosystems that support this link to work in science. Our school pond increases the biodiversity of the school site and is most often used to support children's science knowledge, such as identifying and categorising living things, understanding life cycles, making close observations and recording data.

All children have the opportunity to learn about and take an active part in promoting sustainability within the school and beyond, through membership of School Parliament, our Eco Committee, outreach work in the community and by participating in school-wide events such as Earth Hour. We aim to give all children the opportunity to put their understanding of local issues into a global context, so that they see how their decisions can have an impact on others now and in the future. Grange Park should demonstrate ways of living that are models of good practice for its children and their communities.

In July 2023, Grange Park was awarded an Eco-Schools Green Flag accreditation with Merit in acknowledgement of the ecological achievements of the school. The Green Flag is an annual accreditation; click the image and look at what this entails.

We aim to renew our accreditation in July 2024 with Distinction by building on our achievements of the previous year.