{"id":22232,"date":"2021-03-15T15:49:47","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T22:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newwestschools.ca\/archive_241212\/?p=22232"},"modified":"2021-04-12T10:23:28","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T17:23:28","slug":"outdoor-covered-play-and-learning-centres-at-four-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newwestschools.ca\/archive_241212\/outdoor-covered-play-and-learning-centres-at-four-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Outdoor Covered Play and Learning Centres at four schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

*This article was written by Julie MacLellan, for the New Westminster Record and was published on Friday March 12, 2021 under the title of “Outdoor learning centres have arrived at four New West schools.” It has been shared with their kind permission. Links at bottom of page.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Pictured here: Queen Elizabeth Elementary’s grade 2 students jumping for joy when asked about their new outdoor learning space!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The new covered shelter on the grounds of Lord Kelvin Elementary School isn\u2019t just an outdoor learning centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost like a little bit of a village square,\u201d said school principal Ken Millard, \u201cwhere people say, \u2018We\u2019ll meet you at the covered learning space.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Lord Kelvin is one of four New Westminster schools to receive the new outdoor learning spaces, which the school district purchased and installed using\u00a0federal money<\/a>\u00a0that was given to districts across the country to help them deal with COVID-19. The local district received $2.5 million of that money and earmarked $365,000 of it for the outdoor learning spaces.<\/p>\n

The others are at Qayqayt Elementary, Queen Elizabeth Elementary and Glenbrook Middle School.<\/p>\n

Millard is pleased to have the new space on his school grounds, where it\u2019s located near the portables housing Grade 4 and 5 students.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey use the outside quite a bit anyway. It\u2019s been nice for them to be able to walk out their door a few steps and have the covered space right there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The school\u2019s kindergarteners have also been taking advantage of the space to kick off their regular \u201cMuddy Mondays,\u201d which see the kids gearing up for the weather and then hitting the school grounds or exploring nearby Moody Park. The outdoor learning centre gives them a space to gather at the beginning of their adventure and then regroup at the end to talk over what they\u2019ve learned.<\/p>\n

Other classes have been using the space for all manner of lessons \u2013 including a recent parachute-making session, where students were able to climb up on the built-in benches to launch their creations.<\/p>\n

FLEXIBLE FURNITURE OPTIONS<\/h3>\n

Each school was able to choose their own furniture for their space, Millard noted, and Kelvin went with permanent benches around the perimeter. That leaves the central space clear for storytelling or speaking to a group, campfire-style.\u00a0 The school also has folding tables and telescopic stools (like those used for camping and hiking that fold up into discs when they\u2019re not stretched out) for use whenever they\u2019re needed.<\/p>\n

Millard noted the space isn\u2019t just used for classes; it\u2019s a play spot for kids at recess and lunchtimes, and it also offers room for just hanging out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether it\u2019s play for the students or learning for the teachers, it\u2019s now that space everyone\u2019s going to go to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Millard pointed out the structure itself is immensely sturdy, made of high-quality steel, with a roof that even includes a sound-insulating lining to muffle the noise from rain on the metal roof above. And it\u2019s been installed on a concrete pad for permanence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not going anywhere, in any kind of storm,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s certainly a well-designed and well-built structure. We\u2019ll be able to use it for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Millard acknowledged this school year has come with its share of anxieties, and he said the biggest missing piece for staff has been the social connection \u2013 the chance to just hang out and chat in the staff room or even to just have in-person meetings.<\/p>\n

But he said the whole school community has been supportive of each other through it all \u2013 and having this new outdoor learning space has brought some new excitement to the air.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everyone has ideas on how it can be used \u2013 from the students, the games they can play around it, to the teachers, how they can use it and share it and have a couple of classes come together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Millard, too, has caught that excitement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really excited when it was finished,\u201d he said. \u201cI like it even more than I thought I would.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read the original story, on the New Westminster Record website here:<\/span> https:\/\/www.newwestrecord.ca\/local-news\/outdoor-learning-centres-have-arrived-at-four-new-west-schools-3540627<\/a>
\nFollow Julie MacLellan on Twitter<\/span> @juliemaclellan<\/a>.
\nEmail Julie,<\/span>\u00a0jmaclellan@newwestrecord.ca<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

*This article was written by Julie MacLellan, for the New Westminster Record and was published on Friday March 12, 2021 under the title of “Outdoor learning centres have arrived at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-school-news","category-featured-news","category-page-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newwestschools.ca\/archive_241212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newwestschools.ca\/archive_241212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newwestschools.ca\/archive_241212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newwestschools.ca\/archive_241212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newwestschools.ca\/archive_241212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22232"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newwestschools.ca\/archive_241212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22241,"href":"https:\/\/newwestschools.ca\/archive_241212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22232\/revisions\/22241"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newwestschools.ca\/archive_241212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newwestschools.ca\/archive_241212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newwestschools.ca\/archive_241212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newwestschools.ca\/archive_241212\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}