posted by Sheena Hardie, Friockheim Primary School

The John Muir Award is an environmental award scheme focused on wild places. It supports experiential learning and acknowledges and celebrates the achievement of young people beyond formal qualifications. It is an educational initiative of the John Muir Trust and it aims to encourage people of all backgrounds to connect with, enjoy and care for wild places.

To achieve a John Muir Award each individual participant engages in a range of activities that encompass the following Four Challenges:

• Discover a wild place – this can range from school grounds to mountain tops
• Explore it – in an active way
• Conserve a wild place – take personal responsibility
• Share your experiences

There are three Levels of the John Muir Award – Discovery Level, Explorer

Level and Conserver Level. They encourage a progressive involvement.

• Discovery Award – 4 days (or equivalent) minimum time commitment
• Explorer Award – 8 days (or equivalent) minimum time commitment
• Conserver Award – 20 (or equivalent) time commitment, over at least 6 months

The pupils in P5/6 at Friockheim Primary School have achieved the Discovery Award over the last 6 months with their teacher Miss Hardie. The wild place they discovered was an area of the park across the road from the school. They carried out a number of different activities under the headings discovering, exploring and conserving. Some of the activities are detailed below.

They shared the changes they noticed over the course of the project
  

Senses Poetry

The pupils recorded what they heard, smelled, saw, felt and what they could eat in our wild place. They used their notes to create senses poems.

Scavenger Hunt

The pupils completed a nature scavenger hunt in our wild place and then they created their own for other pupils to complete.

Bird feeders

As part of the conservation element, the pupils made bird feed and hung them on the branches of the trees.

Posters

After carrying out surveys of litter and dog fouling in the park, the pupils created and displayed posters around the park to encourage dog owners to pick up after their dogs and to put litter in the bins.

The final element of the award is about sharing your experiences with others. The pupils have kept record books throughout the project to record their experiences. They worked in groups of 3-4 to create a PowerPoint presentation about the award, which they then shared with classes in the school.

The pupils have been very positive about the award:

• “I think the John Muir Award is really fun because we get to explore outside and we get some fresh air.” ~ Teigen
• “I think the John Muir Award is amazing because I like helping the environment.” ~ Bex
• “I think the John Muir Award is a good thing to be doing because the rest of the class, like me, enjoy the adventure side of it.” ~ Finlay
• “I think the John Muir Award is pretty fun and I love how we get to explore our wild place.” ~ Zeki

As you can see the John Muir Award has been very much enjoyed by my class – I’d encourage you to take part in it too! More information can be found at:
https://www.johnmuirtrust.org/john-muir-award