We have worked extensively with the previous DfES Capital Division to safeguard school grounds and inform the future design and management of these important educational places. We continue to support the government in various ways including:
- Attending the Playing Fields Disposal Panel
- Contributing to relevant Building Bulletins on behalf of the department
- Sitting on the School Design Advisory Council which aims to inform the development of the BSF and Academies programme
- Helping develop the Design Quality Indicators for Schools.
In 2006 we wrote and produced the publication Designing School Grounds as part of the "DfES Schools for the Future" series.This book can be ordered from the TSO Online Bookshop.
We are also working closely with the Curriculum Division to help steer the Growing Schools initiative and more recently to help take forward the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto. LTL has managed the consultation process around school grounds, Play and Early Years and we continue to be involved in the development and delivery of strategies that emerge from this Manifesto.
At LTL, we are continually striving to realise the fully educational potential of school grounds and have managed a number of curriculum focused programmes including:
- Skills for School Landscapes, a programme that focused on Vocational Education and the school grounds
- GIS in School Grounds: a programme designed to encourage the use of ICT for learning outdoors.
The inclusion of outdoor learning within the Foundation Stage curriculum has provided LTL with a number of opportunities to develop our Early Years work and we are currently managing projects on behalf of the Sure Start Unit, Kent County Council and West Sussex County Council.
In Wales, LTL is working with the Welsh Assembly and Countryside Council Wales to support outdoor play and learning as part of the Foundation Phase, as well as improve school grounds for all ages.
