An example of practice: St Wilfrid's Catholic School

Laudato Lodge is located within the Wellbeing Woods at St Wilfrid’s in Crawley.

St Wilfrid’s is a mixed Roman Catholic secondary school and sixth form in Crawley, in north West Sussex. The school has 1,167 pupils aged 11 to 18. Of these pupils, 15% get free school meals, 20% have special educational needs, and 32% speak English as an additional language.

The school used its 2024 Thriving in Education Grant to improve its outdoor space by adding a wooden lodge. This new space helps pupils and staff make better use of the outdoors.

Research shows that spending time in nature improves wellbeing. New evidence also suggests that having access to outdoor space at school can improve attainment. High‑quality outdoor learning helps pupils engage more and supports deeper and more memorable learning. Pupils in urban areas and older pupils in secondary schools, are less likely to benefit from this type of outdoor access.

There is also strong evidence that time outdoors helps school staff. The Natural Connections Demonstration Project supported 125 schools in South West England to run nature‑based learning. In these schools, 70% of teachers said outdoor learning improved their job satisfaction and 72% said it improved their emotional wellbeing.

St Wilfrid’s received £3,000 in the autumn term of 2024. They used the funding to improve the support they offer pupils in their Wellbeing Woods area. 

Pupils and staff were already using this space to spend time in nature and take a break from the busy main school.

In their grant application, the school showed how the project would build on existing work and support their wider strategic plans. They based their application on pupil feedback, which showed strong links between pupil wellbeing and time spent outdoors.

The school’s grounds team built the wooden lodge and placed it next to the pond in the woodland area.

The school also needed to make sure the lodge could support a wide range of activities and groups. These included:

• wellbeing gardening group
• sixth form spiritual development (in line with the school’s Roman Catholic ethos)
• peer bereavement intervention group
• time out space for staff

In the coming months, the school plans to open the lodge to more intervention groups. They also want to make the space feel calmer by adding items such as wind chimes, water features, herbs and flowers. 

They plan to buy storage for therapeutic resources, including games, sensory toys, journals and books.

Pupil feedback shows that the lodge needs more seating, so this has become a key priority for the next stage of development.

Pupil voice has been collected to show the impact that Laudato Lodge has had on those who use it.

Overall, the feedback shows that the lodge gives the school community more chances to use the outdoor space and that it has a positive effect on mental health.

Of the 33 pupils surveyed, 31 said they would recommend the lodge to other pupils who are struggling with their mental health or emotional wellbeing. In addition, 29 pupils said that spending time in the lodge and the surrounding area has improved their own wellbeing.

When asked about their favourite things about the lodge, pupils’ responses included:

• a sense of calm and anti-stress
• being free to roam around
• being with others
• growing food
• the geese
• being creative

Summing up the lodge in one word, pupils described it as safe, relaxing, fun, peaceful, calm, exciting, cosy and “like Heaven”.

“It has made me feel very caring and kind.”

“I have less fights and emotional breakdowns.”

“I used to be so stressed but now I feel calm.”

“It’s calmed me down and gives me a good boost for the day, I love it.”

“We are very lucky to have a skilled facilities team who put up the building relatively quickly, but there are other options, such as ordering a summer house or wooden lodge online.

We are so pleased that we chose to spend the money on this rather than training, which we also considered, so if you feel that your school would benefit from additional space, purpose built for wellbeing, then go for it!”