Matt Robinson’s 2025 round-up, and the simplest, most profound moment of the year
Our CEO, Matt Robinson, looks back on 2025, encapsulating why we do what we do in one profound moment: lying with our faces in the grass.
In 2025, as we marked 35 years of Learning through Landscapes (LtL), all our staff team gathered near Birmingham. The time was busy with training, sharing, collaborating, and the transition of leadership between Carley Sefton and myself. We even had a (now legendary) sparkly themed disco. However, the pivotal moment that defined the event for me was not on the agenda.
It was an act of profound, yet simple, rebellion.
Amidst the structured programme, our indomitable trustee and retired headteacher, Sue Humphries, simply lay face down on the grass.
She did not ask for permission, but she issued an invitation to those around her. She invited us to reconnect, to feel the earth, inhale the scent of life, and acknowledge the profound simplicity of our mission. For all our strategy and professionalism, all the distractions and practicalities of running an organisation, the heartbeat of LtL remains children experiencing nature first hand, in the only democratic space every child accesses daily.
Image caption: Sue in pink and white inspiring LtL schools delivery staff, clockwise from Sue — Ali, Jane, Cindy, Lindsey, Emma, and Iestyn. All six of them agreed it was wonderful: “The sweetest series of moments.”
A look back on 2025
This year has been a testament to our determination and persistence, and of course the hard work of our wonderful staff team.
- Nine years of support from the players of the People’s Postcode Lottery has seen us invest over £9m through Local School Nature Grants.
- Our renewed partnership with WWF will deliver nature-friendly play spaces to 10 schools in the UK, and that is just for starters.
- We continue to lead the global movement that is Outdoor Classroom Day.
- Our delivery of the Department for Education’s National Education Nature Park has helped partners reach 20% of schools in England.
- Climate School 180 is charting the course for quality climate education.
- Nurturing Nature, our pioneering early years family play and learning programme in Scotland, has opened the door to our newest project My Nature Play across the UK.
- We revisited the Scottish School Grounds Survey and saw 40% of schools tell us how important school grounds are.
- Our Education Policy and Infrastructure campaign has steadily advocated for school grounds, outdoor learning and play at government level.
- Fidelity UK has enabled a new programme of growth and evidencing of our impact.
- Our training in person and online continues to work with thousands of early years educators and teachers.
However, my inward-looking celebration is tempered by reality.
The rough reality
Our Scottish School Grounds Survey, a worrying mirror to the rest of the UK, revealed systemic issues. Nearly 20% of schools have lost outdoor space. 17% have under five trees. Fewer children have an active and playful outdoor break time. Over 82% of school grounds remain concrete, asphalt, and hard surfaces.
The barriers to development are massive, and the inequity in outdoor space provision, linked directly to poverty, is a social injustice. These are not landscapes for thriving children. They are a barrier to thriving and they shape behaviour.
We see persistently elevated levels of absenteeism, of violence and disruption in the classroom, increasing numbers of children who struggle to engage with education systems dominated by sitting at a desk. We see declining physical and mental health, a lack of nature connection, and fragmentation of communities. While our outdoor spaces will not solve these challenges alone, they are vital foundations. Inadequacy in this area reflects our lack of strategy to change the future for our children and young people.
There is renewed national interest in outdoor learning, and climate adaptation is a window of opportunity, but we refuse to wait for permission. The school estate must adapt to our changing climate. Great school grounds are not a luxury, they are vital infrastructure for learning, play, sport, community cohesion, and wellbeing. We need new legislation, updated guidance and practical strategy in all four UK nations.
Doubling down on our ambition
2026 will see an acceleration of LtL. We are growing in number of colleagues and partners, new projects, and increased turnover. But my ambition is way more important than turnover.
Sue’s simple, playful challenge — to lie down in the midst of ‘work’ — reminded us that our sophisticated strategies must always serve the core mission. We are not just transforming school grounds, we are transforming childhood itself. My ambition is to be more like Sue — and to share with you next year our impact on children and young people across the UK.
Trustee Merrick Denton-Thompson wrote this earlier in the year, and I want to share it with you all:
It has been more than 35 years since I first thought of the concept of LtL. I remember that it all began with a simple but powerful belief – that every child deserves access to a school environment that nurtures their whole development: social, emotional, academic, and physical. I saw tarmac playgrounds and fenced-off fields that were failing children, and I knew there was a different way to think about education and the role the school estate plays in happy, healthy childhoods.
We don’t just need to transform school landscapes. We need to transform childhood.
And that need has never been more important.
Image caption: Matt Robinson, new CEO of Learning through Landscapes, took over the helm this summer. He’s been with LtL for 12 years in several roles.
We can’t wait to see what 2026 brings for Learning through Landscapes! Make sure to sign up to our newsletter to stay up to date with the latest news on outdoor learning and play. We’ll see you next year!
