Wildwood Outdoor School

Wildwood Outdoor School is designed to foster learning, comfort, and growth in nature’s classroom. Classes will participate in multi-visit, scaffolded outdoor and environmental education programming using experiential, integrated, and collaborative methods of implementation. This model is supported by student driven learning, exploration time, sensory immersion, and curriculum connected experiences.

Wildwood Outdoor School is available for Kindergarten through Grade 6. These years are key for learning how to love and relate to the natural world. Appreciation for nature is the basis for the expression of stewardship and sustainable behaviours later in life. Students build knowledge over the course of their visits, connecting classroom learning with a lived experience.

UTRCA staff meet with school staff before the program starts to discuss the daily and yearly schedules, as well as expectations and considerations for staff and students. The level of participation by school staff in planning and programming visits is flexible, with options for less to more structure, and less to more co-teaching.

Yearly Schedule

  • Fall – September/October (1-1.5 hours, schoolyard session)
  • Winter – January/February (1-1.5 hours, schoolyard session OR half day at Wildwood Conservation Area as able/if interested)
  • Spring – May/June (1-1.5 hours, schoolyard session OR half or full day at Wildwood Conservation Area as able/if interested)

Daily Schedule (Sample)

  • Arrival – Body Break (physical preparation for spending time in nature by having snacks/drinks, using washrooms, checking apparel)
  • Opening – Gathering Circle (mental preparation for the day through introduction to/ review of nature awareness routines and best practices for spending time in nature)
  • Morning – Programming (using emergent, inquiry-based and/or pre-determined activities)
  • Lunch – Body Break (in building/shelter or at picnic tables; rest and/or free time if desired)
  • Afternoon – Programming (using emergent, inquiry-based and/or pre-determined activities including co-teaching if pre-planned)
  • Closing – Story of the Day (reflect on the day by sharing stories/experiences freely or with a guiding question for immediate consideration or future inquiry)
  • Departure – Body Break (physical replenishment/release, responsibility for collecting all belongings)

Other Details

Cost

  • Wildwood Conservation Area:
    • $8/student/half day
    • $16/student/full day
    • $136 minimum charge/half day for groups with fewer than 16 students
    • No charge for teachers or volunteers
  • Schoolyard Sessions:
    • $175/session/class

Adult Supervision

  • Adult to student ratios should be in accordance with your school board’s out of class ratio policy.

Weather Policy

  • To ensure safety for all, we reserve the right to re-schedule/modify programs due to weather or unsafe conditions. We do not offer any indoor programming in the event of inclement weather.

All-Terrain Wheelchair

  • An all-terrain wheelchair is available. Please let us know in advance if it is required.

Special Needs

  • Please let us know in advance if you have a student with any medical and/or mobility and/or other concerns. We will do our best to accommodate needs and make the trip enjoyable for everyone.

Contact

Documents used to support the Wildwood Outdoor School Program include:

  • Acting Today, Shaping Tomorrow: A Policy Framework for Environmental Education in Ontario Schools. Ontario Ministry of Education, 2009.
  • Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature. Young, Haas, McGown,
  • Environmental Education: Scope and Sequence of Expectations. Ontario Ministry of Education, 2017
  • Forest and Nature School in Canada: A Head, Heart, Hands Approach to Outdoor Forest School Canada, 2014.
  • Natural Curiosity: A Resource for Teachers: Building Children’s Understanding of the World through Environmental Laboratory School at the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, 2011.
  • Shaping Our Schools, Shaping Our Future: Environmental Education in Ontario Schools. Ontario Ministry of Education,
  • The Ontario Curriculum, Ontario Ministry of Education, various.