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The education and care facilities design standards provide design guidance and recommended standards for creating outdoor learning environments in preschools and schools that provide children and young people with optimal learning opportunities. They can be used across government and non-government organisations to support this outcome.
Schools or preschools considering developing their own outdoor learning environments need to consider:
- design and planning the space for learning outcome
- design standard for quality and safety
- risk management processes and procedures.
The ongoing maintenance and replacement costs of Outdoor Learning Environments are the responsibility of the site. Department sites can find more information on creating a safe outdoor learning environment (staff login required).
Nature Play SA resources
Nature Play SA has developed a range of nature play resources to assist schools and preschools in understanding the risks and challenges that come with outdoor learning environments and how they can be used to optimise learning opportunities through diverse and meaningful experiences.
The Learning Outdoors – benefits risks guide (PDF 6.7MB) should be read together with the education and care facilities design standards to create a balanced approach to developing and maintaining outdoor learning environments.
Risk management
Site leaders must exercise their professional judgement to analyse the risks against the benefit of play activities to optimise learning outcomes for children and young people. These tools and processes are provided to help with that assessment:
