Rainbow Research Team 2011

1. Rainbow Research Team 2011 A Project by Year 2 Colmore Infant & Nursery School, Birmingham

2. 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

3. 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?

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. The Early Years ‘outdoor classrooms’ at Colmore Infant & Nursery School

10. 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’.

11. 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.

12. Our next steps…. • Carry out a survey with the Year 1 children. • We are going to speak to Deb our home-school 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.

13. 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……