"It's not difficult to say, I'm going to take my class outside today to read a story rather than inside. Small things can make a big difference."

Goldstone Primary School sits on the edge of Brighton, but when Year 1 teacher and eco-coordinator Raphaela Harris first arrived, its outdoor learning potential was underused. The old vegetable-growing area had become overgrown and difficult for teachers to manage. "It was getting a bit neglected, and it was quite a hard space for children to go into and use successfully," she recalls.

Then a chance encounter changed everything. One summer, while Harris was setting up her classroom, she bumped into a parent painting a wall. Their conversation turned into a plan: bring in a trained horticulturist to revive the space and support staff to use it. With backing from the headteacher and funding from the parent association, gardener Ruth joined the school for one day a week. The transformation was immediate. The living classroom was born.

"She became so much more than we'd anticipated," says Harris. "She was brilliant with the children as well as the garden." A gardening club soon expanded into something bigger: every class, from nursery to Year 6, now receives dedicated time in the living classroom. Teachers use it for reading, science, geography, or as a quiet breakout area. Children eat lunch among the beds, water plants, weed pathways, and see themselves as caretakers of a shared space.

One of the most striking impacts has been on pupils who struggle in the traditional classroom. ​​"Children who may be struggling and find it challenging to grapple with academia … you can see them thriving in the living classroom."

"It’s a place of real rest and tranquillity," Harris reflects. The garden has become a refuge and a space where the usual hierarchies of the classroom fade. "You'll find children who might have emotional behavioural difficulties or SEN challenges… You'll go and you'll see them weeding in the living classroom or watering plants and it feels like they could be successful there."

Year 5 pupils take part in an annual dig for victory unit which forms part of their World War II history curriculum. They grow vegetables from seed, harvest them, and turn them into soups shared with parents. Their work has spun out into the wider curriculum: Year 2 pupils have designed work clothes for Ruth as part of their 'make do and mend' DT unit, and science lessons explore bulbs, weather instruments, and plant life cycles. "We’re so time poor," Harris notes. "Rather than an add-on, having it embedded within the curriculum means it doesn't feel like extra work."

When Ofsted inspectors visited recently, pupils were asked to choose their favourite parts of the school to show off. Every location they picked was outdoors.

Yet Harris has also noticed that younger children today appear less aware of climate and nature issues than those a few years ago – perhaps a result of news cycles dominated by cost-of-living pressures and international politics. This makes the school’s role even more important.

Despite the success of Goldstone’s model, Harris is keenly aware how fragile such initiatives can be within the constraints of state education. Time, staffing, and resources are the primary barriers. "If you're asking teachers to do something on top of everything else, it often won't happen."

The school’s leadership made key decisions – cutting minibus funding and delaying iPad upgrades – to sustain two days a week of horticulturalist support. Without that, Harris believes the living classroom simply wouldn’t function.

Initial teacher training also leaves gaps, she says. Many teachers feel under-confident outdoors, and few receive guidance on handling the emotions that arise when confronting a warming world. Goldstone is now planning to partner with a University of Sussex researcher to explore climate anxiety among primary-aged pupils, hoping to form one of the first studies of its kind in the UK.

What advice would she give other schools? "You can’t do it all by yourself," Harris says simply. Success depends on finding 'ambassadors' – supportive senior leaders, keen staff, engaged parents – and framing outdoor learning not as extra work but interweaving it as part of the curriculum.

Every step matters. "It's not difficult to say, I'm going to take my class outside today to read a story rather than inside. Small things can make a big difference."

This case study was written by Sarah Trott.