Outdoor Solutions before the end of the financial year

We tend to think of the school as being a fixed entity with
established buildings, and designated teaching areas. But…

Teaching and learning can and does happen anywhere; in the classroom, the hall, the playground… Indeed the only thing that ever limits the use of any space is our ability to imagine the possibilities.

So if you have a playground, and it is raining, or there is strong direct sunlight, or it is very windy, the area’s use as a teaching and learning environment might be thought to be restricted.

But if you were to put up a canopy, you could, for a very modest sum, give yourself an extended classroom, an al fresco dining area, an adventure play area…

This is the route down which numerous schools have recently gone, in developing ever more varied use of their facilities. And there really is no limit to the ways in which an area could be used.

True, there’s no telling what the British weather is going to do next, but the fact that canopies can be used in so many ways, means that there are virtually no days at all in the school year when such a facility cannot be used in some way or other.

There are over 150 different designs of canopies available. Some of course are designed for very specific purposes, such as the bicycle shed, but many others do have multiple uses.

Which is why before we do anything else, we always offer to come to your school, without cost and without any obligation, to see the site and discuss the ways in which a canopy could be added to your existing buildings.

To get an idea of the huge range of options available we’ve collected together photographs of over 30 different installations that we’ve undertaken recently. They are on

http://www.cambridgestylecanopies.co.uk/canopies.php – just click on any photograph that looks interesting and you will see it enlarged.

We’ve also got a separate page for cycle shelters http://www.cambridgestylecanopies.co.uk/cycle-shelters.php

If you’d like to discuss how a canopy could be used in your school, or have us come to look at your site and advise on the options, please either

Phone: 01353 699009
Email: cambridgestyle@aol.com
Or write to: Cambridge Style Canopies, 62 Main Street, Pymoor, Ely, Cambs CB6 2DY

Making lunchtime a learning time

Occupying children with an educational activity
while they are having sandwiches or school lunch

Active Learning Place Mats sit under the child’s plate while eating but then become an educational activity full of activities and information suitable for Key Stage 1 and 2 children.

Better still, because the place mats can be wiped clean using a dry cloth, they can be used again and again. And not only at lunchtime but also during wet playtimes.

Each of the Active Learning Place Mats comes as a set of six, and the pack also includes six dry-wipe pens.

Four different sets of six mats plus pens are available, each focussing on a different topic.

Looking first at the “Letter Fun” series, the first mat has alphabet sequencing activities based on a picture of a peacock on one side and a further sequencing game based on The Tree on the reverse.

Continuing with the Letter Fun series there are two dot-to-dots to complete on place mat two, while mat three has rhyming pairs on each side. Mat four comes with beginning sounds, mat five deals with ending sounds and mat six has complete the words and match the words exercises.

Set two relates to the Animal Kingdom and includes pets and insects (mat 1), fish and the countryside (mat 2), birds and arctic animals (mat 3), endangered and woodland animals (mat 4), reptiles and safari animals (mat 5), and nocturnal animals and horses (mat 6).

The Times Tables series includes questions on all the times tables up to 10 experienced through both multiplication and division questions, while the Key Words series of mats uses word searches within shapes to stretch the children’s awareness of letter combinations.

There are more details and illustrations on our website.

You can order the Active Learning Place Mats in any of these ways:

  • On our website
  • By phone on 01604 505000
  • By fax to 01604 505001
  • By email to info@msl-online.net
  • By post to Multi-Sensory Learning, Highgate House, Creaton, Northants, NN6 8NN