This article reports the findings of a recent survey of how often south London secondary schools use local green spaces and parks for teaching science. Comparisons are made between these findings and those reported from a similar study of east London secondary schools in 2006. The article discusses how an external project responded to the needs listed by school science departments in the survey, and the outcomes following the support. Two key ingredients of science departments were identified as necessary if external support is to have longer term impact in encouraging teachers to use the outdoors for science teaching. (Contains 3 tables, 2 boxes, 2 figures, and 6 online resources.)