MPT Baseline Summary Sheet

Turn Your Outdoor Learning Observations Into Clear, Meaningful Next Steps

You have gathered the observations.

You have listened to pupil voice.

You have recorded what staff are noticing.

You may have photographs, work samples, engagement notes and information about independence, regulation and communication.

But what do you actually do with all of that information?

The Muddy Puddle Teacher® Baseline Summary Sheet helps teachers bring their evidence together, identify the most important patterns and create clear aims for the next stage of their outdoor learning case study.

Rather than collecting evidence that simply sits in a folder, this resource helps staff move through a simple process:

Observe → Summarise → Identify Barriers → Set Aims → Adapt Teaching → Review

It has been designed to work alongside the MPT Outdoor Case Study Portfolio and the MPT Two-Child Impact Study, where teachers follow one SEND focus pupil and one other focus pupil over time. To download this please take a 60-day free trial.

This is for our trainees to learn more; head to our Outdoor Learning Training Hub.

What Is the MPT Baseline Summary Sheet?

The Baseline Summary Sheet is a practical three-page teacher reflection and planning tool.

It helps staff take everything they have learned during their initial baseline period and answer some important questions:

• What are we actually noticing?
• What are this pupil’s strengths?
• What barriers appear to be affecting participation?
• What already seems to help?
• What is the pupil telling us?
• What patterns are appearing across our observations?
• What would we now like to improve?
• What changes are we going to make to our teaching?
• How will we know whether those changes are helping?

The result is a much clearer starting point for the child’s case study.

What’s Included?

The Baseline Summary Sheet guides practitioners through:

Focus Pupil Information

Record:

• pupil initials or study ID
• year group
• teacher or key adult
• baseline completion date
• SEND or second focus pupil

Your Original Area of Focus

Identify whether you are primarily exploring:

• engagement
• regulation
• communication and oracy
• independence
• confidence
• collaboration
• resilience
• curriculum access
• physical activity

There is also space to add your own focus area.

Evidence Collected

Teachers can bring together evidence including:

• teacher observations
• teaching assistant observations
• pupil voice
• work samples
• photographs
• video or audio
• curriculum assessment
• adult prompt counts
• engagement timings
• independence ratings
• communication observations
• regulation observations

This helps staff see the full picture rather than relying on one memorable lesson.

Identify the Child’s Strengths

A case study should never become a list of difficulties.

The Baseline Summary Sheet asks teachers to identify what the pupil already does well.

This could include:

• creativity
• communication
• practical skills
• imagination
• problem solving
• movement
• relationships
• subject strengths
• independence
• particular interests

The question then becomes:

How can we use those strengths to improve access to learning?

Identify the Barriers

Teachers are encouraged to think beyond the child and consider whether elements of the learning environment may be creating barriers.

This might include:

• lengthy teacher input
• extended written recording
• sitting for long periods
• whole-class discussion
• sensory demands
• noise
• transitions
• lack of movement
• unclear expectations
• adult dependence
• task complexity
• processing time

This changes the conversation from:

“Why can’t this child do this?”

to:

“What could we change to make this learning more accessible?”

What Already Helps?

Perhaps one of the most valuable parts of the sheet is identifying what already appears to work.

Teachers might notice that a pupil responds particularly well to:

• movement
• practical resources
• paired talk
• small-group learning
• outdoor environments
• visual support
• reduced written recording
• clear routines
• additional processing time
• pupil choice
• larger-scale learning
• adults stepping back

These observations can then directly influence future lesson planning.

Bring In Pupil Voice

The pupil’s perspective matters.

The sheet includes space to record:

• what the child says helps them learn
• what they find difficult
• what they enjoy
• what they would like to change

Outdoor learning should not simply be something we do to children.

Children should have opportunities to help us understand what successful learning feels like for them.

New to this area? Explore The Complete Guide to Outdoor Learning.

Look for Patterns

Once teachers bring all of their evidence together, they are encouraged to complete statements such as:

This pupil appears to engage best when…

This pupil appears to communicate best when…

This pupil appears to become more independent when…

This pupil appears to need greater support when…

This helps staff move beyond isolated observations and begin identifying meaningful patterns.

Create a Clear Baseline Summary

Teachers then bring everything together into one concise baseline statement.

This provides a clear record of:

• where the pupil is now
• their strengths
• current barriers
• participation
• independence
• communication
• adult support
• curriculum access

This becomes the point that teachers can return to later.

Instead of simply saying:

“They seem much better now.”

staff can compare future observations against a documented starting point.

Turn Your Evidence Into Aims

The Baseline Summary Sheet does not stop at observation.

Teachers are asked to create clear pupil-focused aims based directly on the evidence they have collected.

For example:

Increase X’s independent participation during practical maths activities.

Increase X’s spontaneous communication with peers.

Reduce X’s reliance on adult prompting when beginning a learning activity.

Increase X’s willingness to orally rehearse ideas before writing.

Support X to remain engaged for longer during collaborative learning.

The resource includes space to create and describe three individual aims.

Decide What You Are Going to Change

Teachers can then select practical adaptations to trial.

These might include:

• increasing movement
• increasing practical learning
• using outdoor learning more regularly
• increasing paired talk
• reducing initial written recording
• using oral rehearsal before writing
• introducing MPT core resources such as rope, bamboo, clay, hoops and chalk
• increasing pupil choice
• reducing adult prompting
• increasing peer support
• creating clearer outdoor boundaries
• using visual support
• changing how learning is recorded

This means the aims are connected directly to changes in teaching practice.

How Will You Know If It Is Working?

The resource also asks staff to decide beforehand how they will measure change.

They might continue monitoring:

• adult prompts
• sustained engagement
• verbal contributions
• independence
• pupil voice
• curriculum outcomes
• observations
• photographs
• work samples
• TA feedback

This keeps evidence collection purposeful and manageable.

Designed for SEND and Whole-Class Practice

This sheet works particularly well for SEND case studies, but it can also be used with any pupil whose learning you would like to understand more deeply.

It could support pupils experiencing challenges around:

• engagement
• confidence
• communication
• regulation
• independence
• writing
• collaborative learning
• physical participation
• curriculum access

It can also be used with pupils who are academically successful but whose wider participation you would like to explore.

Perfect for Outdoor Learning Coordinators

For whole-school MPT implementation, each teacher can complete one sheet for:

• their SEND focus pupil
• their second focus pupil

This gives the Outdoor Learning Coordinator a consistent format across the school.

Over time, these individual case studies can begin to reveal wider school patterns around:

• engagement
• SEND
• regulation
• oracy
• independence
• physical activity
• curriculum access

This makes the evidence far more useful when discussing outdoor learning with:

• SLT
• governors
• SENCo
• teaching staff
• support staff
• parents
• external professionals

Keep Evidence Collection Manageable

This resource has deliberately been designed to avoid creating another heavy assessment system.

You do not need enormous quantities of data.

You need small amounts of useful evidence collected consistently.

The aim is not to prove that outdoor learning works for every child.

The aim is to help teachers understand:

What is changing?

What is not changing?

What might be helping?

What should we try next?

Use Alongside the MPT Outdoor Case Study Portfolio

The Baseline Summary Sheet works particularly well alongside the MPT Outdoor Case Study Portfolio.

Use the portfolio to collect your observations, evidence and pupil voice.

Then use the Baseline Summary Sheet to bring that information together and create your aims.

From there, staff can begin the next stage of the case study with a much clearer purpose.

Who Is This Resource For?

Ideal for:

• Primary teachers
• EYFS practitioners
• SENDCos
• Outdoor Learning Coordinators
• Teaching assistants
• Specialist schools
• Alternative provision
• PRUs
• Nursery practitioners
• Senior leaders developing whole-school outdoor learning

Download the MPT Baseline Summary Sheet

Take all of those observations, photographs, conversations and notes and turn them into something useful.

Bring the evidence together.

Identify the barriers.

Notice what is already working.

Set your aims.

Then change the teaching.

Because good outdoor learning practice is not about taking children outside more often.

It is about understanding when, why and how changes to our teaching can help children access learning more successfully.

Download the MPT Baseline Summary Sheet and begin turning your observations into action.