Henshaws Specialist College completes outdoor classroom following £25,000 housebuilder donation

The college provides education, learning and care for young people aged 18 to 25 years old who have a wide range of disabilities and complex needs. The addition of the outdoor classroom has enabled the students to develop skills using the natural environment such as investigation, imagination and creativity with activities including shelter building, bug hunts and climbing.

The completion of the new outdoor classroom within the Forest School encourages a new level of outdoor learning, and with the addition of a yurt allowing for education in the Forest School throughout the year. Henshaws Specialist College and Barratt Developments Yorkshire East celebrated the project completion with a visit to the college to see how the funds supported the Forest School.

Henshaws College aims to increase independence by empowering disabled people to go beyond expectations and achieve their ambitions, whilst also providing a supportive community. Henshaws is a charity that has been helping people living with sight loss and a range of other disabilities for over 180 years. Down the road from Harrogate College in Knaresborough, Henshaws has its inspiring Arts & Crafts Centre with a wonderful shop, café and woodland walk which the whole community enjoy on weekdays all year round.

Gemma Young, Fundraising Development Manager at Henshaws Specialist College for Yorkshire, commented: “Our Forest School is a unique educational opportunity for our students to develop confidence through hands-on learning. The outdoor learning takes place in a small woodland area on the Henshaws Specialist College campus, and thanks to Barratt Developments Yorkshire East the outdoor classroom is now complete.

“With the donation we were able to have a 22 ft yurt with a wood burning stove installed to base the sessions from, so the students can continue to learn outdoors, even in bad weather.

“We were so pleased to welcome Barratt Developments Yorkshire East to the college so they could see how far their generous donation has gone for our students and facilities.”

Daniel Smith, Managing Director at Barratt Developments Yorkshire East added: “Henshaws Specialist College offers young people living with disabilities a fantastic support system to learn, socialise and build their confidence.

“It was fantastic to see the Forest School with the new outdoor classroom up and running for students to enjoy. This type of learning really promotes young people being active in education, and we’re really pleased to have been able to donate to a project to expand Henshaws facilities.”

Barratt Developments Yorkshire East is building a collection of homes across North, East and South Yorkshire. For more information about new homes in your area visithttps://www.barratthomes.co.uk/ or http://dwh.co.uk/

For more information about Henshaws Specialist College, visit www.henshaws.org.uk ​