PUPILS have been making boats, learning survival techniques and using bushcraft tools after their school became the first in Stoke-on-Trent to adopt a Scandinavian education scheme.

Despite being located in an inner-city area, Our Lady and St Benedict Catholic Primary, in Abbey Hulton, has now become an official 'forest' school.

It means classes of children spend up to a day a week having lessons in a wood in their school grounds.

They weave literacy, numeracy, and other national curriculum subjects into these outdoor sessions and also develop their independence and confidence.

The project began earlier this term and has already had a positive impact on pupils' enthusiasm for learning and their behaviour.

Joshua Botham, aged six, said: “I love it outside. It's better than being in the classroom.”

The school wood has provided plenty of inspiration and is now being managed by pupils, who are learning coppicing techniques.

Six-year-old Charleigh O'Byrne and her classmates have also made a boat, which they hope to try out on water.

It is made from plastic sheeting and twigs which have been tied together to fix them in place. Charleigh said: “We also cut wood and make things. We made a fire so we could heat some water and make hot chocolate.”

The forest schools approach began in Sweden in the 1950s and has now spread to other parts of Europe.

Its aim is to use the natural environment as a backdrop for children's learning and personal development.

Christian Fox, the forest school leader at Our Lady and St Benedict, runs his own outdoor education company and delivers the woodland sessions to children as young as four.

Pupils often link what they are doing in their normal classrooms with the projects they are doing outside.

Mr Fox said: “The maths work might include cutting wood into quarters or doing specific measurements. They can do geography by studying the clouds and the weather. It also helps with their speaking and listening skills because they are interacting with each other and learning new words.”

For a science topic, youngsters may even be blindfolded and challenged to find their way through the trees.

Debbie Sims, headteacher of Our Lady and St Benedict Catholic Primary, said: “It's a bit more than a Ray Mears survival thing. The children have been really enthusiastic.”