Schools now view outdoor learning as a vital part of the curriculum and not the nice-to-have enrichment of a few years ago thanks to a growing body of research into its benefits.
The purpose of this White Paper is to give readers a comprehensive understanding of this research, the practical barriers to making outdoor learning possible and how schools can effectively implement outdoor learning.
Outdoor learning has become increasingly popular among schools over the last ten years due to children spending considerably less time outside than their parents.
There’s an ever-expanding body of research proving how outdoor learning improves engagement and wellbeing and how nature-based learning supports behaviour and social development.
Schools are also increasingly seeing outdoor space as part of the educational infrastructure and have an obligation to provide equal access to the outdoors to all students.
In the government’s White Paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving1 published 2026, they called for schools to create more accessible and therapeutic outdoor spaces especially for SEND pupils.
These include sensory spaces and play areas to accommodate education and physical, social, and emotional development.
Outdoor learning encompasses many different types of curriculum-based learning such as messy play to art classes, gardening and PE to forest schools where children learn about their natural environment and take part in environmental science projects
Apart from school playing fields, woods and beaches, many of these activities can take part in canopies, standalone outdoor classrooms.
These are purpose-built structures usually made from steel, wood or aluminium and protect children from the weather, hot sun or the rain.
Rather shockingly, children today are estimated to spend around 50 per cent less time playing outside than children did just 15 years ago, according to the Centre for Young Lives.
The organisation was asked by the government to carry out a year-long independent inquiry into the importance of children's play which resulted in the report Everything to Play For: A Plan to Ensure Every Child in England Can Play2.
The dramatic decline is due to a variety of factors including a loss of playgrounds and youth centres with a staggering 400 playgrounds closing across the country between 2012 and 2022.
Add an increase in traffic on our roads, the rise of social media and how much time children spend on screens nowadays, we have a lethal cocktail to deal with.
The country is still dealing with record high post-pandemic mental health problems in children who were adversely affected by being socially isolated from their school friends and their routines being disrupted alongside their education.
This is especially true for teenagers who need peer interaction in order to thrive and build confidence and for all children who missed regular physical activity at school, particularly those who live in flats and were unable to burn off excess energy.
According to Impacts of lockdown on the mental health of children and young people a report by the Mental Health Foundation3, overall, studies point to increased levels of distress, worry and anxiety thanks to the pandemic.
Prolonged lockdowns caused some children to develop agoraphobia, making them afraid of public spaces including schools. The thought of returning to noisy environments after being in lockdown triggered anxiety in some children and school avoidance.
The number of children referred to mental health services in England has risen by 10 per cent in a year to more than one million, or one in every 10 - almost double the number in 2018 to 2019.
These shocking statistics come from the most recent report by Children's Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza, Children and Young People's Mental Health Services: 2024-254.
Anxiety was top of the list, accounting for 16 per cent of all referrals, while cases of suspected autism rose by almost 50 per cent in a single year, to more than 96,000.
Other neurodevelopmental conditions, such as ADHD and Tourette's syndrome, also increased by nearly a quarter.
And a report by Youth Futures Foundation5 backs up Dame de Souza’s findings with an increase in mental health issues most pronounced among girls and young women, and those from white British and mixed ethnic backgrounds.
Notably, the researchers say their analyses indicate these trends reflect genuine increases in mental distress rather than shifts in the identification or reporting of symptoms.
The battle over how much screen time children should be allowed has been ongoing since the rise of smartphones.
But spending more than two hours on a screen and not spending time outside in nature is linked to poor mental health, impaired emotion regulation, and reduced neurodevelopment in children, according to many studies including Psychological impacts of “screen time” and “green time” for children and adolescents: A systematic scoping review6.
Currently, there isn’t official guidance on how long children of school age should spend on screens though the government is set to introduce guidance in autumn 2026.
Outdoor learning provides great opportunities for SEND and inclusive learning approaches.
This is backed up by the government’s White Paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving1 which wants to see schools use outdoor spaces as both a therapeutic and learning environment for SEND pupils.
The government now recognises that well-designed outdoor areas, including weather-protected outdoor space, is integral to helping SEND pupils learn and to self-regulate behaviour.
Outdoor learning helps children be active citizens in their own environments as well as learn about climate change, something children worry they don’t have much control over.
Schools with outdoor learning facilities can provide children with the opportunities to become stewards of the environment by taking part in citizen testing if they live by coast and conservation projects such as rewilding areas and learning about gardening and food growing.
You can find ideas on how to provide these at Sustainability Support for Education7, an organisation set up to help schools find climate and sustainability opportunities.
The great benefit of incorporating outdoor learning into the curriculum is that there are so many different learning environments available to explore.
This can include forest schools, gardening, citizen testing, messy play and sports.
Outdoor classrooms mean that many activities can happen all year round because children will be protected from the rain and with climate change, the more frequent and intense heatwaves.
Yes. There is a great deal of evidence showing outdoor learning can improve attention and has many cognitive benefits such as developing critical thinking skills which improves academic performance.
A four-year project called the Natural Connections Demonstration by Natural England8 saw 125 schools, including those from disadvantaged areas in the south-west, taking part with teachers empowered to use the outdoors to support everyday learning.
The study found that 94 per cent of teachers agreed outdoor learning improves students’ grasp of science, nature, and the environment.
Additionally, moving learning outdoors boosts performance in subjects like writing, mathematics, and social studies.
By applying knowledge to real-world contexts, students become more engaged with their learning, with 92 per cent of students reporting that they enjoy their lessons more when they’re outdoors.
Yes. There is overwhelming evidence linking the two which is important when many young people today are facing mental health problems because of screen time.
Outdoor learning encourages physical activity which improves mental health by releasing happy hormones, endorphins.
Researchers at University of Glasgow9 showed children who spend 60 minutes daily in nature have a 50 per cent lower risk of mental health issues, with children from lower-income families benefitting the most.
Another Natural England10 study, published in 2021, found 85 per cent of young people agree being in nature makes them ‘very happy’.
Absolutely. When children learn outside in a natural environment, it often involves risk-taking and challenges.
When children realise they can work things out for themselves and develop new skills, this helps to boost confidence and resilience.
In the same way, outdoor learning provides children with new opportunities for social interaction with other children from different year groups or classes as well as adults from the community, again boosting confidence and social skills.
Schools can incorporate outdoor learning into the curriculum in a variety of ways depending on the space they have available.
Some schools are able to use part of the playing field as an allotment to grow food or put in raised bedding planters in an underused area of the playground.
Others are lucky enough have enough space for a rewilding project or to keep chickens where children can learn about looking after animals and where our food comes from.
Others with SEND provision can create sensory gardens with different plants and trees with sound boards and coloured paths.
Canopies are perfect solutions to providing outdoor learning opportunities because they can be installed in a hard-to-reach area or underused space to provide all year-round weather protection as a solution to outdoor learning.
They are often open-sided standalone structures or attached to the building, sometimes providing an excellent shading option for south-facing buildings with large windows.
They can also be fitted with blinds which are controlled via a remote and can be raised or lowered depending on the temperature or if it’s raining.
Canopies can be retrofitted with sides, walls, heating and lightning and colourful post protectors, depending on the school’s changing needs.
Their roofs provide protection from the rain and sun’s rays and can come in different bright colours to match an existing colour scheme or brighten up a dull corner.
The structures are popular with schools because they are quick to install, multi-use and can be used all year-round to host PE lessons, art classes, messy play and citizen science projects.
Solar panels can also be added to a canopy roof, helping to cut energy bills and giving schools a real-time opportunity to teach about renewable energy.
One of the biggest barriers to providing outdoor learning opportunities in the UK is our changeable climate.
During the winter and autumn we’re faced with high winds, storms and lots of rain while increasingly in the summer, we are experiencing longer and more intense heatwaves which is why canopies are increasingly in demand.
The weather can be very hard to predict long term, and sudden changes can scupper carefully laid plans, causing disappointment and disruption to students’ learning.
Schools often find it hard to squeeze outdoor learning into the already packed curriculum.
It takes careful planning to find opportunities where it can be incorporated regularly over the academic year and teachers are already time-poor trying to fit everything in.
If teachers need inspiration for outdoor learning there are many websites to help including Sustainability Support for Education7, The Outdoor Classroom or The Woodland Trust.
Other barriers include teacher confidence in creating the right outdoor learning opportunities to fulfil the curriculum as well as safeguarding concerns around taking students out.
The amount of planning and paperwork that needs to be done for health and safety risk assessments can deter teachers from creating outdoor learning opportunities.
Some schools may also be averse to outdoor learning because of the perceived risks of what could go wrong.
Without weather resistant covered space, it can be very hard to provide outdoor learning on a regular basis in the UK’s changeable climate,
Many schools face budget restraints and are unable to provide outdoor learning in an environment that needs to be maintained on a regular basis.
However, canopies installed by a reputable company, are an excellent choice for schools because they are low maintenance and should be guaranteed for at least 20 years though in reality last much longer.
As more research reveals the mental health and academic benefits of outdoor learning, more schools are expected to incorporate wellbeing-first school design.
Climate change will also be a major factor in schools providing more outdoor learning because of the intense heatwaves we are experiencing in the UK and more frequent rainfall.
Covered areas like canopies provide an excellent safe space for children to exercise and learn in during hot weather rather than being taught in stuffy classrooms or being sent home as we have seen over the last two summers.
Installing a canopy next to a south or south-west facing classroom or hall also provides shading to the school building, helping to reduce temperatures inside the classrooms and stopping overheating.
There is also a trend for biophilic environments which sees nature being integrated into a building.
A covered area or canopy is an excellent way of creating such an environment where plants and raised beds of vegetables can be grown.
As our climate warms and gets wetter, covered areas like canopies will become more popular because they are all year-round multi-use spaces for PE, art classes, messy play and many other outdoor learning activities.
Their flexibility means they can be easily adapted to meet a school’s changing needs and can be retrofitted with blinds that lower automatically during bad weather.
The trend for outdoor learning is also being pushed by the government because they recognise the benefits outdoor space has on children with different needs.
In their recent reforms of SEND provision in the White Paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving1, they call for schools to create sensory gardens and quiet, safe outdoor areas designed for regulation and reduced sensory overload.
The government also wants to see schools providing outdoor areas to accommodate physical, social, and emotional development.
The move to Net Zero means schools will be looking for opportunities to put solar panels on rooftops to reduce their carbon emissions and cut energy bills.
However, some school roofs may not be large enough for solar rooftop, or have the right orientation, which is why solar canopies are an excellent alternative.
The solar panels can be fitted at the time of installation or retrofitted on an existing canopy, as and when a school’s budget allows.
With all the evidence showing how outdoor learning has a positive effect on mental health wellbeing and academic performance, it’s important that schools begin to provide these opportunities to children.
This is especially prescient considering recent reports on the rise of mental health problems affecting one in ten children.
As the Psychological impacts of “screen time” and “green time” for children and adolescents: A systematic scoping review6 concludes, nature is under-used as a public health resource and schools should use it more for intervention to prevent mental health problems in children.
Outdoor learning provides ample opportunities to take children away from their screens and help them learn new skills and resilience as well as boost concentration and academic achievement.
Kensington Systems has been installing safe and well-designed Spaceshade canopies and shade sails across the country for many years as our case studies demonstrate.
Contact us for more information on how our experts can help your school deliver outdoor learning opportunities.
Sources
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0237725
https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/archiveofnews/2024/june/headline_1086096_en.html
https://www.ukyouth.org/2024/02/outdoor-learning-is-vital-for-childrens-mental-health/