Rainbow Research Team
2011
A Project by Year 2
Colmore Infant & Nursery School, Birmingham
Why ‘research’ ?
• To find out things and answer questions
• To help our school improve the learning
environment [in lots of different ways]
• To help us speak and listen to adults and
children we may not talk to very often
• To involve children in their own learning
• Research is part of our plan to ‘improve the
school’, and is something that is very
important to Colmore Infant and Nursery
School
What is our research project?
• We are helping to develop the Year 1
outdoor area . The changes will be
sponsored by ‘Friends of Colmore’ who help
fund lots of brilliant projects.
• These are our research questions:
*How can Year 1 learn literacy and numeracy
outside?
*How can the Year 1 learning environment be
improved?
Why are we researching this?
• We think that the space outside the Year 1
classrooms could be a wonderful extra
learning area.
• Children in Nursery and Reception are used
to being able to play in their ‘outdoor
classroom’ and really miss it when they
come to Year 1.
• Our school is having lots of building work
done to it, so this outdoor area could be
changed at the same time.
What is the Year 1 outdoor area
like now?
• At the moment there is not anything to do
out there and it needs a good tidy up.
• The little house is just used for storage .
• It is dull, grey and boring for the children.
What is the Year 1 outdoor area
like now?
• There is a stage that has been built by Wates
Construction, last Autumn, but it has never been
used by children for role play.
• The walls are plain and not colourful. It should be
used more often and in a more fun way.
What is the Year 1 outdoor area
like now?
• In the Year 1 outdoor area, some of the plants died
because they didn’t have enough water and nobody
looked after them.
• We looked in the sandpit and it was full of dirty
water and mucky sand.
• The black mat is expensive but it is hardly ever used
and it is dirty.
How does it compare to Nursery
and Reception?
• Nursery has plants, numbers on the wall and a train
to play on.
• Nursery have got a little play house to play in and a
slide to play on.
• They have a herb garden to touch and smell.
• In the Reception outdoor area there is a
construction area and a den.
• They have exercise machines and a role play area.
The Early Years ‘outdoor classrooms’ at Colmore
Infant & Nursery School
Our project so far …..
• We have started to investigate how we can make this
outdoor area better.
• We have taken photos of what we think needs to be
repaired or replaced.
• We visited Reception and Nursery to get some ideas, but
are thinking of how they need to be different and more
challenging for Year 1.
• We designed questionnaires for the staff, parents and
Year 1 children.
• We have begun interviewing Year 1 staff at school, to
see what they think of the outdoor space.
• Last week we started to look at catalogues for things
that we could include in our ‘wish list’.
So far we have learned that…
• The area has an uneven surface because
there is too much concrete.
• There is very little greenery for the children
to enjoy.
• The children and the teachers are excited
about using the outdoor area.
• We need to talk to the children about looking
after the area and about our project.
Our next steps….
• Carry out a survey with the Year 1 children.
• We are going to speak to Deb our homeschool worker.
• We are going to plan and find resources for
this area.
• We are going to send out a questionnaire to
the parents of Year 1.
• We are going to monitor the work when it
starts.
And finally!
• Thank you all for listening to our
presentation.
• We are very excited about this project, and
are looking forward to the work starting.
• We look forward to your comments or
questions……