Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of increased opportunities for outdoor play and outdoor learning in primary schools on (a) educational attainment, (b) attention spans, (c) behaviour, and (d) wellbeing.

The department believes that outdoor play and outdoor learning can be a valuable part of a rich and broad education, for example in physical education and geography, or a school’s enrichment offer. Nature, outdoors and adventure is one of five categories of enrichment set out in the new Enrichment Framework for schools and colleges. The link for this framework can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-enrichment-framework-for-schools-and-colleges.

Current UK and international evidence, including work supported by the department and the University of Oxford, shows that school-based nature programmes benefit young people’s mental health and wellbeing, particularly by reducing stress and anxiety. The studies suggest that greater access to green space in schools is associated with lower rates of pupil absence. The study in question can be found here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1353829226000997.