How to make your school outdoor shelter and outdoor classroom eco-friendly

We are all aware nowadays of the urgent need to protect the environment and schools too must do their part to adopt techniques and environmental policies in order to help lead the transition to a low carbon economy.

The Eco Schools programme does a very good job of ensuring that this is taught and practiced in UK schools and by implementing more meaningful learning from outside the classroom experiences, this will lead to the development of more positive and inclusive attitudes to eco learning.

Students will not just be told about sustainable development, they will be able to actually participate in it and appreciate a learning space in which they can explore what a sustainable lifestyle means. Children can therefore be part of the environmental awareness process.

The Hideout House outdoor shelters for schools are designed to suit a whole host of applications but more importantly, they have been developed so that children can actually learn from the building itself and its features so that it therefore becomes both a functional and didactic product combined into one.  They embrace a lot of the key cornerstones of the Eco Schools fundamental principles – namely renewable energy, healthy living, re-cycling, bio-diversity and global citizenship.

Our outdoor shelters and outdoor classrooms have the following eco-friendly features:

  • Living sedum roof which attracts bio-diversity and which absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere (it is also a natural insulator so can help reduce energy costs)
  • A renewable energy system which includes a mini wind turbine, solar panel and energy monitoring board with datalogger and power sockets. The energy created from the sun and wind is stored into a battery (which is mounted onto the board) and by way of an inverter is then converted into usable electricity. Children can then tap into pure, green, CO2 free power
  • Special dynamo bike systems which, like above, also create renewable energy. The children have to pedal the bikes to create power which in turn can be used for a whole of creative educational applications
  • Water butt, roof guttering system and planters. The harvested rainwater is stored into a water butt which is then used to water and feed whatever is being grown in the planters. This encourages healthy living and eating
  • Mini lean to greenhouse and recycling bin centres
  • Bird boxes and nature observation panels
  • Manufactured from eco-friendly materials which can show a chain of sustainable supply

The Hideout House Company products are designed to be both fun and engaging too so that children will want to participate time and time again. If they can own the project and be part of it, they will want to learn more. Learning about environmental issues and embracing social responsibilities has to come as second nature to this generation of school children if we are to make any significant difference at all to help saving our planet. After all, there is no Planet B!

If you would like to know how we can help make your school’s outdoor classrooms and shelters more eco-friendly, then please contact us on 01865 858982 or email: info@hideouthouse.com

www.hideouthouse.com