Primary Learning
Outdoor Learning at Perivale Wood
Step outside the classroom and into nature at Perivale Wood. We offer hands-on outdoor learning sessions designed for preschool and primary school pupils, bringing the national curriculum to life in a unique woodland setting.
Led by our passionate environmental science teachers, children will explore, discover, and connect with the natural world while developing teamwork, curiosity, and confidence.
Session Options & Pricing
-
Half-day (2 hours): £176
-
Full-day: £296
Your Visit
During your time with us, you’ll have exclusive access to the Bluebell Centre, which includes:
-
A fully equipped classroom for up to 30 children
-
A boot room for belongings
-
Toilet facilities
SEND-Friendly Learning
We believe every child should have the chance to learn in nature. That’s why we also offer tailored sessions for SEND groups. Please fill in our enquiry form for more details.
Learning That Lasts
All of our sessions are linked to the national curriculum and also support the citizenship curriculum, helping pupils understand how their local and natural environments can be cared for and protected.
Booking
Explore our session summaries and booking form below — and start planning a memorable outdoor learning adventure for your class.
Early Years (EYFS)
Superworm and friends
This exciting session begins with a reading of Superworm by Julia Donaldson, before children get the chance to meet some real-life “superworms” and discover why these tiny creatures are nature’s superheroes.
Armed with curiosity, pupils will head out on a minibeast hunt, learning how to carefully find, identify, and observe a range of fascinating invertebrates. They’ll also be taught how to handle them safely and respectfully.
To finish, the children will work together in teams to design and build a trap for the mischievous Wizard Lizard — a fun, hands-on challenge that encourages problem-solving, teamwork, and imagination.
teeny weeny tadpole
Dive into the wonderful world of frogs! Children will listen to the delightful story Teeny Weeny Tadpole by Sheridan Cain and meet a real frog friend while discovering the amazing frog life cycle. They’ll become pond explorers, searching for tadpoles and other tiny pond creatures. In the sunny meadow, they might even spot leaping grasshoppers and other jumping insects using sweep nets. To end the adventure, each child will create a frog-inspired masterpiece using leaves—a special keepsake to take back to school!
KS1 and KS2
Discover the World of Bog Baby
Inspired by Jeanne Willis’s beloved book Bog Baby, this full-day session invites pupils to step into the magical world of the mysterious Bog Baby. After enjoying the story, children will explore the natural world to discover whether Bog Baby might be a mammal, amphibian, bird, or reptile. Through observing real-life examples in Perivale Wood, pupils will investigate the features and adaptations that help animals survive in their habitats.
The session also focuses on Bog Baby’s home—the enchanting bluebell woods and pond—and introduces the variety of creatures that share his habitat.
Activities include:
-
Pond dipping to uncover aquatic life
-
obesrving real nests and taking part in a nest building challenge
-
looking for signs of mammals in the woodland and looking at real examples of mammal skulls
-
And, with a bit of luck, a close encounter with a slow worm!
National Curriculum Links
Pupils will have opportunities to:
-
Identify and name a variety of common animals, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals
-
Recognise animals as carnivores, herbivores, or omnivores
-
Identify and name common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees
-
Describe the basic structure of a variety of common flowering plants, including trees
Practical Skills Developed:
-
Observing closely using simple equipment
-
Identifying and classifying animals and plants
-
Using observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions
This session offers an immersive, hands-on experience that brings science and storytelling to life, inspiring curiosity, observation, and a love of nature.
Discover Flowering plants and trees
Get ready for a hands-on adventure in the great outdoors! This half-day session invites pupils to explore, observe, and interact with the natural world in an exciting and memorable way.
What’s Included:
-
Wildflower and Tree Exploration: Spot and identify common wildflowers, deciduous, and evergreen trees, discovering the unique features that make each one special.
-
Build a Giant Tree: Collaborate as a class to create a life-sized tree from natural materials, learning about parts of a tree and how trees grow.
-
Leaf Rubbing ID Sheets: Make your own identification sheets by creating leaf rubbings of the trees you find.
-
Measure the Mighty Oaks: Investigate the age of the oak trees in Perivale Wood.
-
Spring Woodland Walk: Hunt for seasonal wildflowers and watch pollinators in action on a guided nature trail.
-
Flower Dissection: Explore the inner world of a flower, such as a bluebell, and discover how pollination happens.
Learning Through Discovery:
This session brings the National Curriculum to life by helping pupils:
-
Identify and name a variety of common wild and garden plants, including trees.
-
Describe the basic structure of flowering plants and trees.
Practical Skills Developed:
-
Asking questions and exploring ways to find answers.
-
Observing closely with simple tools.
-
Conducting simple investigations and tests.
-
Identifying, classifying, and recording findings.
-
Using observations and data to explain the natural world.
This session isn’t just a walk in the woods—it’s an adventure in discovery, creativity, and curiosity, designed to make learning about nature exciting and unforgettable!
Discover habitats
During this half-day session, pupils will explore the rich diversity of life in a woodland habitat. Through a guided woodland walk, they will search for signs of animal life and spend quiet, reflective time using their senses to investigate their surroundings.
Pupils will learn to identify a variety of trees, create leaf rubbings, and discuss the interdependence of woodland plants and animals. They will also examine a log microhabitat to discover the hidden world of invertebrates, exploring what these creatures eat and how they fit into the woodland ecosystem. Together, the class will construct simple food chains, connecting observations to real-life ecological relationships.
National Curriculum Links:
This workshop supports the following statutory requirements for pupils:
-
Identify that most living things live in habitats suited to their needs and describe how different habitats meet the basic needs of plants and animals, including their interdependence.
-
Identify and name a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, including microhabitats.
-
Describe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals, using simple food chains, and identify different sources of food.
Practical Skills Developed:
-
Observing closely and using simple equipment.
-
Identifying and classifying living things.
-
Using observations and ideas to answer questions.
-
Gathering and recording data to support conclusions.
Living, dead or never alive
In this hands-on half-day session, pupils will begin with an exciting woodland scavenger hunt, searching for natural materials in their environment. Using their findings, they will take part in sorting and classifying activities, deciding whether each object is living, dead, or has never been alive.
In addition to the materials they collect, pupils will have the chance to examine real specimens, such as a fox skull and a preserved bat, helping to bring the concepts of life and what makes something alive vividly to life. They will then explore the life processes shared by all living things (MRS GREN) and observe these processes first-hand in creatures such as worms.
National Curriculum Links:
Pupils will be taught to:
-
Explore and compare the differences between things that are living, dead, and things that have never been alive.
Practical Skills Covered:
-
Observing closely, using simple equipment
-
Performing simple tests
-
Identifying and classifying
-
Using observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions
-
Gathering and recording data to support their findings
This session encourages curiosity, hands-on learning, and a deeper understanding of the natural world, helping pupils connect classroom knowledge with real-life experiences.
Discover Keys and classification
Join us for a full-day hands-on exploration of woodland and pond invertebrates! Pupils will investigate the fascinating world of small creatures, learning how to classify them into groups based on their shared characteristics. Students will discover the incredible diversity of invertebrates in their local environment and explore how nature reserves support wildlife while urban development can pose challenges.
The day begins with a guided woodland walk to spot signs of life, followed by an exciting bug hunt. Pupils will work together to construct a class dichotomous key inspired by the invertebrates they find and create food chains based on the morning’s discoveries.
In the afternoon, the focus shifts to pond life. Students will explore the animals that undergo metamorphosis, such as dragonflies, and use pond nets to collect and study a variety of pond invertebrates. They will learn about each species’ adaptations to life in water and finish the day by building a class food web showcasing the pond ecosystem.
National Curriculum Links:
Pupils will be taught to:
-
Recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways
-
Explore and use classification keys to group, identify, and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environment
-
Understand that environments can change, sometimes posing risks to living things
Practical Scientific Skills Covered:
-
Asking relevant questions and using different types of scientific enquiry
-
Setting up simple practical enquiries, comparative and fair tests
-
Making systematic and careful observations
-
Gathering, recording, classifying, and presenting data in various ways
-
Recording findings using scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams, keys, bar charts, and tables
-
Reporting on findings through oral and written explanations, displays, or presentations
-
Using results to draw conclusions, make predictions, suggest improvements, and raise further questions
-
Identifying differences, similarities, or changes in simple scientific ideas and processes
-
Using straightforward scientific evidence to answer questions or support findings
This interactive session combines observation, discovery, and critical thinking, giving pupils a deep appreciation for the small yet vital creatures that support our ecosystems.
The Lost words poetry and nature day
When the Oxford Junior Dictionary removed 20 nature words—such as “acorn,” “bluebell,” and “kingfisher”—they were deemed no longer relevant to children’s lives. In response, writer Robert Macfarlane created The Lost Words, a spellbinding collection of acrostic poems that reawakens our connection with the natural world.
In this full-day session, pupils will discover the beauty of flowering plants and wild places through exploration, creativity, and poetry.
Morning: Discovering the Wild
The day begins with a guided walk through the nature reserve, searching for wildflowers and listening to stories about old names for plants like the dandelion. Pupils will hear Macfarlane’s Scatterseed poem, then explore the wonders of flowers through dissection and a lively pollination game.
Afternoon: Bringing Nature to Life
Back in the woods, pupils will test their knowledge of native plants and animals found in Perivale Wood. They will use all their senses to experience an ancient oak tree—wrapping paper around its trunk to write descriptive words, imagining its life story, and even calculating its age. They will use oak gall ink to create an oak leaf or acorn picture to take back to school.
The day concludes with pupils weaving together their discoveries, emotions, and observations into their own acrostic poems celebrating Perivale Wood.
National Curriculum Links
This session supports statutory requirements by encouraging pupils to:
-
Listen to and discuss a wide range of poetry.
-
Prepare poems to read aloud and perform, using intonation, tone, volume, and action.
-
Discuss words and phrases that capture the reader’s interest and imagination.
-
Recognise and experiment with different forms of poetry.
Exploring life cycles at Perivale Wood
During this full-day session, pupils will discover the fascinating life cycles of animals and plants that thrive in Perivale Wood.
The day begins with an interactive activity, inviting pupils to identify as many mammals, birds, insects, amphibians, and plants as they can that might live in the woodland. From there, they will explore metamorphosis, using the life cycles of frogs and ladybirds as examples. Hands-on pond dipping will give them the chance to investigate real frogs and aquatic invertebrates at different stages of development.
Out in the meadow, pupils will use sweep nets to catch and study a variety of insects, observing how their life stages differ across species.
In the afternoon, the focus shifts to plants. Surrounded by thousands of spring bluebells, pupils will investigate the life cycle of either a bluebell or a buttercup. They will examine the male and female parts of a flower, learn how pollination occurs, and explore how plants reproduce both sexually and asexually.
Finally, pupils will turn their attention to birds by studying the life cycle of the blue tit. They will observe real nests and take part in a fun, practical nest-building challenge.
National Curriculum Links
This session supports pupils in meeting statutory requirements by enabling them to:
-
Describe the differences in the life cycles of a mammal, an amphibian, an insect, and a bird.
-
Explain the life process of reproduction in some animals.
-
Explain the life process of reproduction in some plants.
Statutory practical skill covered:
-
Identifying scientific evidence used to support or refute ideas or arguments.
