IF you go down to the woods today you may well find some pupils from Crossgates Primary who are heading outside for lessons.

Keep Scotland Beautiful are trialling the Learning About Forest (LEAF) scheme in 55 schools and the Fife kids will be shown how to connect with nature.

Starting in January, the pilot programme will run through to July with the hope it can then be extended to all schools in August.

Nicola Davidson, education and learning officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “We are delighted to announce the 55 schools that will form our LEAF pilot programme.

"These schools, while working towards their learning for sustainability goals, are also helping us develop the programme for other schools in the country.

“By participating in the LEAF programme, pupils will gain a better understanding of the natural world and learning lifelong lessons about their environment and how to protect and promote it.”

The feedback from the pilot will be used to make LEAF more accessible so children across the country can have a deeper and more involved understanding of the natural world.