Mollys Guide - Spring 2018

EDUCATION
Benjamin Adlard Primary School
outdoor learning key to school’s continued success...
When head teacher Sam Coy took over
the reins at Benjamin Adlard Primary
School, it was struggling to say the least.
Rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted inspectors in
2014, it was not a job for the
faint-hearted with improvements
required across the board.
Just a few years later however and
the school has been transformed,
now rated ‘good’ overall by the
education regulators and with
an added bit of outdoor adventure to help
keep pupils stimulated and interested in their
continued learning.
An innovative on site ‘forest school’ classroom
now allows children to thoroughly embrace the
great outdoors, get some fresh air in their lungs
and offers the perfect accompaniment to regular
indoor activities.
Mr Coy said pupils at the school in
Gainsborough, near Lincoln, have really
relished the chance to get outside a bit
more.
“I have been head for nearly three years
now but when I took over the school was
in special measures and was the 27th worst
performing school in the county,” he said.
“Some of our pupils come from very vulnerable
backgrounds so we have added the forest
school to help us nurture and develop our pupils
into even more rounded people by providing
them with a wealth of different experiences.
“Our school motto is ‘creating a haven in which
pupils flourish’ and we believe the forest area
is another way for our children to develop and
grow.”
The transformed section of the school
encompasses a large area of wild meadow,
wildlife, grasses and trees, and although slap
bang in the middle of an urban area to the southwest
of Gainsborough, offers a true rural escape
for pupils.
Overlooking the town and miles of rolling
Lincolnshire countryside, it enables outdoor
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Spring 2018