This year, The Lyceum is moving. Our new site is just around the corner from us, it’s brand new and a very impressive school building.
We have completely renovated a five-storey building on Worship Street, replete with specialist classrooms, a built-in modern canteen, science laboratory, drama room and a wonderful library. And, for the first time in our school’s history, we are going to have a playground.
Being outside is all about sensory stimulation. Children behave very differently when they’re outdoors and it stems from a sense of freedom and possibility. Being outside makes children feel calm and can be used as a fantastic way to refocus a class. We find that redirecting children’s attention is all about changing the space they’re in. If children sit in a classroom for too long, their behaviour starts to change. We’ve found that a brisk walk around the block means children return to the classroom with a renewed energy, ready to engage with the lesson. Our new site recognises this, and we envisage the peaceful environment to have a profound impact on the teaching, learning and wellbeing of our children.
Our school’s new playground really is an oasis of calm in the midst of the city. We’ve carefully curated the space to make use of its propensity to encourage teaching and learning. It’s entirely lined with astroturf, beautiful wisteria climbs the walls and an Acer tree stands tall and vibrant in one of the corners. Raised beds mean our pupils can practice gardening and growing vegetables and herbs, and we have a little bird table so they can feel even closer to nature. Little benches are in place for independent reading or quiet conversations.
Perhaps the most exciting thing about our oasis – certainly in the children’s eyes – is the walk-in rabbit area. Pupils can literally walk into the cage and sit with the (tame) rabbits, which we expect will particularly benefit those whose behaviour needs refocusing. An assortment of playground games like hopscotch has been printed onto the astroturf for break time and we even have a den-making area to encourage creativity and teamwork. As a school, we take pride in our holistic focus on the wellbeing of each child; we’ve brought yoga into the curriculum for Years 1 to 6, while our nursery and Reception years take part in ballet.
It’s during unstructured, free time that children are most creative and open to exploring new things, so we can’t wait to see our pupils thrive in the new outdoor space.
Our open morning on 26 March is now fully booked. Please join us on 7 May for our first open morning at the new site on Worship Street. We’re so excited to give prospective parents the opportunity to see the remarkable new building in action for the very first time.
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