Join the School Grounds Collective launch in London

School grounds legislation is long overdue an update.

The lack of national strategy and antiquated legislation around school grounds doesn’t meet our aspirations to support local nature, climate adaptation or provide great opportunities for children and young people’s education and development.

Engaging with nature in familiar surroundings offers children, as well as teachers and educators, the chance to deeply connect with the natural world. Being outdoors within the school day, on a familiar site, can lower many of the usual barriers to nature connectedness. Quality school grounds can offer safety alongside rich experiences, accessibility alongside stimulation, and wellbeing opportunities alongside curriculum links, for the children who need it most.

This shouldn’t be difficult to achieve

In light of the current review of the school estate strategy, we will be calling for an update to school grounds legislation. Some vital and overdue policy updates will ensure that all children have regular access to nature within the school day, by better equipping teachers to make meaningful use of their grounds. A move towards a national ambition, equipping every school with the knowledge and focus to create climate-ready, nature-rich school grounds is both necessary, and relatively simple to achieve with some basic policy amendments.

We’ll be holding our School Grounds Collective at the QEII Conference Centre on Thursday 19 March, with a drinks reception from 3.30pm, keynotes at 4.30pm and an opportunity to network until 6.30pm, with some light refreshments provided.

We’d love to see colleagues from other third-sector organisations, who focus on education, climate action, climate mitigation, school grounds, learning, play, mental health and wellbeing – anyone who is working in or adjacent to school grounds.  We have also invited a swathe of MPs, and hope that some colleagues from the Department for Education will also be in attendance.