North Ridge is a wonderfully vibrant school of 510 students. Our parents are very much supportive and appreciative of all that we do at school to support their children. Our staff team, vice principal/principal and our parents are fully committed to a wrap-around, caring approach to helping students thrive. One aspect that clearly jumps out to any observer is how happy our students are at school. They love coming to North Ridge and participating in all that our school has to offer; there is an incredible sense of belonging to our school family. Our learning extends beyond our classrooms. We are fortunate to have a full forest as a playground where much daily playing and learning takes place. We also have recently won the fight against a patch of invasive blackberry bushes and developed a school garden with six planter boxes.
We interviewed teachers who are heavily involved in outdoor learning. Some powerful themes that came out of this conversational process is that, when it comes to outdoor learning, students increased their levels of happiness, engagement, cooperation, communication, connection and self regulation.
We have decided that our focus will be in the Personal and Social Core Competency, specifically in the area of social awareness and responsibility. North Ridge is fortunate to have a large mature forest filled with Douglas firs, cedars, oaks and a small number of cottonwoods. We are taking full advantage of our forest through daily outdoor learning. We believe that our focus is important for students because it builds resiliency, curiosity, engagement, joy and connection to nature and First Peoples principles of learning.
"The outdoors offers limitless potential to young children. It becomes a place where they can go to relax their mind, to be inspired and to deep dive into the world of imagination. It's a place where they can design, create and explore. The possibilities are endless." Angela Hanscom
Our student learning goals are:
•I can express and reflect on personal experiences of place.
• I can communicate observations and ideas using oral or written language, drawing or role play.
Our "Place" is defined as our local outdoor environment where we interact, learn, connect with culture and establish identity. The connection between people and place is central to Indigenous perspectives.
These are stars found by students by snapping dead twigs of a cottonwood tree. Students also learned the indigenous story/connection behind the stars and how they help brighten the sky. Our learners make connections to the natural world. "Look. This one has a big star. The stick has to be the right size. If it is too small it is all brown and if it is too big there is no star. The cottonwood drops lots of twigs."
In the past few years, our teachers are learning to embrace the benefits of outdoor learning. We are learning that when students learn outside in our natural environment, they become engaged, inspired, relaxed and happier! This is important because learning will accelerate and deepen with increased joy and inspiration.
Our aim is to build stronger learners who are more connected to the natural world. This is expressed so aptly in The First Peoples Principles of Learning: Learning is wholistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential and relational (focused on connectedness on reciprocal relationships and a sense of place.)
We have decided that our focus will be in the area of science:
Our student learning goals are
•I can express and reflect on personal experiences of place.
• I can communicate observations and ideas using oral or written language, drawing or role play.
Our "Place" is defined as our local outdoor environment where we interact, learn, connect with culture and establish identity. The connection between people and place is central to Indigenous perspectives.
Our outdoor learning cohort are our primary classes. Nine classes spend approximately five hours a week learning outside during Treetop Tuesdays, Wilderness Wednesdays and Forest Fridays. Some specific learning activities include the daily land acknowledgement and thank-you, math measurement, nature-based science, animal habitats and movement, environmental stewardship, cooperative games, cooperative art and building activities etc...
Student Learning Goal:
•I can express and reflect on personal experiences of place.
We interviewed numerous primary students about their outdoor learning experience. We asked two specific questions. What do you like about learning outside in the forest? How do you take care of our environment? Student answers emphatically showed the tremendous positive impact that learning outdoors has on their learning engagement, joy and connection to the natural world. Care and respect for our environment speaks loudly in their comments. They are beginning to understand their connection to the land, their responsibility for its care which is embedded in First Peoples Principles of learning.