Martin Crabbe is a Geography Teacher at Glebe School in Bromley in south London and has been involved with Empty Classroom Day for the very start. He explains why:

Empty Classroom Day ties in with general ethos of our school, we make sure we spend a lot of time outdoors as much as we can. This national event gives us the chance to celebrate learning and playing outdoors, by giving its importance more focus.

“There are so many positive benefits to spending time outdoors, you can see the children learning and playing together and watching their confidence grow and them working together as a team. These are vital skills for them to learn and it’s just not as easy in a classroom. In a classroom environment you can look at a text book and photographs of something but there is nothing like being outside and seeing something first hand. It’s a completely different experience for them and teachers.

“When it comes to spending time outdoors I always use this saying – safety first, fun second and learning third. I feel that if you consider the first and second point, the third point – learning just happens. Every year we visit Joss Bay but we don’t overly plan what we want the children to learn as this is almost decided by them on the day. We have found that some children have never been to a beach and this is a fantastic experience for them and they want to take in the new environment in their own time. They don’t want to be taken away from the first time they have seen the sea by their teacher and made to learn a set subject. It’s about giving children the space to explore and they will be discovering and learning in their own space and time.

“To take part in Empty Classroom Day schools need to sign up and dedicate at least one lesson outdoors, but we intend to be out for as much of the day as possible. The weather looks fine for the day but we will have our waterproofs at the ready and we have a wooded area in the grounds that the children can go and take shelter if they need to. There is a particular fun patch in the wooded garden that gets pretty muddy, I am sure the children will enjoy playing in that for part of their Empty Classroom Day. That’s what being a child is all about – getting a bit muddy from time to time and enjoying the great outdoors.

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