Eco Lodge

What is The Eco Lodge?

The Eco Lodge is a centre for outdoor education situated in the idyllic grounds of Haddenham St Mary ’s CE School.

As an Eco School with Green Flag status, HSM wanted to create a building which was sustainable. The Eco Lodge has been created with sustainability in mind. It is solar powered and harvests
rainwater through an eco friendly drainage system. The Eco Lodge is also built from recycled and reclaimed materials and is unique in the fact that it is extremely low maintenance.

• Enhanced personal and social communication skills to develop skills for life.
• Increased physical and mental health.
• Improved practical problem solving and team work skills.
• Greater understanding of the world and the people around them to support the development of responsible citizens.

The benefits of outdoor learning

Outdoor learning provides memorable and meaningful experiences through first hand and practical activities. This in turn allows greater progress to be made and standards are raised. Learners deepen and contextualise their learning and make links between learning. Integrating learning and outdoor experiences provides relevance and depth to the curriculum which can be difficult to achieve indoors. Often the outdoors provides excellent opportunities to use a wide range of skills that are not always visible in the classroom.

“Outdoor learning experiences are often remembered for a lifetime.”

Using the Eco Lodge

The Eco Lodge is available to hire for school visits which can be linked to an educational visit to St Tiggywinkles, the local wildlife hospital. It is also available for meetings, training and children’s parties.

Please contact the school office for details and prices.

To view the full opening ceremony and photos go to www.haddenham.net

Celebrity chef Raymond Blanc visited The Eco Lodge to promote the new food mobile app… 

Henri le Worm Mobile App  – Download it here to your iPhone or Android.

Henri le Worm was created by Olivier Blanc and actress Charlotte Salt. The app is narrated by Simon Pegg.

View the video on The Thame Gazette Website

Go to www.haddenham.net to view more images

Celebrity chef Raymond Blanc visited St Mary’s CE School to perform a cooking demonstration and to encourage his young audience to value simple food cooked with fresh ingredients. The 10 lucky pupils who were chosen to join him in the school’s new Eco Lodge then had a go at creating their own ‘Mice in Mayonnaise’ dish, following Monsieur Blanc’s careful instructions.

Raymond was accompanied by Olivier Blanc (Raymond’s son) and Charlotte Salt, the beautiful and talented actress many will know from her former role as Dr Sam Nicholls in ‘Casualty‘ on BBC TV.

Charlotte and Olivier have developed an impressive new app for Apple and Android devices, called ‘Henri le Worm‘. The app, featuring recipes from Raymond Blanc and the voice of actor Simon Pegg, encourages children to discover more about food, ingredients and nature with a combination of games, facts and music.

Following the practical cookery workshop, Raymond, Olivier and Charlotte joined all the rest of Haddenham St Mary’s pupils and staff in the school hall, where a song was sung in their guests’ honour.

Please check out www.haddenham.net to see some fantastic photographs of this delightful afternoon.

See it in the press at www.dailymail.co.uk