At LOST we work with a variety of partner organisations to ensure that we are learning from and sharing the highest quality, up to date resources. We have a page dedicated to these organisations and professionals which is regularly updated with each groups latest newsletter.
This week, we have updated the page with the latest newsletters from the John Muir Trust, Creative Star and Learning for Sustainability Scotland.
Have a look at the page by clicking on the link below:
Today, we have uploaded a fantastic new resource to our Literacy Out of the Box page – The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark. This resource based around the very popular and much loved book is aimed at pupils working at Early and/or First Level, or, Nursery to P2 stages.
We have a variety of lessons and activities available which can be carried out at home or in school hubs, all of which are available by following this link: The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark. You don’t even need to have a copy of the book at home to enjoy these activities as the story can be enjoyed online here:
If you are looking for a project or challenge to set for your class at home, have a look at some of these wider achievement awards. These are projects that we work on regularly with pupils in school but they can be easily carried out in home settings too.
RSPB Wild Challenge – activities which encourage pupils from early level and beyond to engage with and help nature; build habitat heaps, create feeders and experience the wonder of nature with this award. Three levels are available to work towards – gold, silver and bronze – with different amounts of activities being completed in the process of achieving each.
Heritage Heroes – Participation in this award aims to encourage young people to connect with, explore and enjoy the past, and to reward their achievement. This award can also be completed at home.
John Muir Award – This is an environmental award which can be completed in your garden with your family. This link will share further ideas and contacts with you about how you can complete or encourage your pupils to complete their award.
As always, please feel free to get in touch with one of the team if you need further information.
Are you struggling to decide what you would like to do when you leave school or which subjects you should choose? Have you ever thought about a career in the outdoors?
We’ve added a couple of videos to our webpage which might give you a little help.
One was created by some fantastic young reporters from Loudoun Academy and contains highlights and interviews from our Women in Wellies event hosted in February 2019.
Another is an inspirational video about women who work in forestry settings.
Have a look at the videos and find out more about the event, by following the link below.
Hi everyone!
Hope you are all doing well, staying safe and enjoying spending time with your families.
We have been working hard over the last month to populate our website with lots of fun activities for you to do indoors and outdoors at home. The activities shared aim to cover all the different curricular areas, an awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals, adventure, growing and planting, learning new skills, play and of course, fun!
Some examples of activities that we have already uploaded are:
We have also uploaded literacy and numeracy lessons for early to second level for teachers and children working within the East Ayrshire Hub schools.
We have started a YouTube page which is constantly being updated with different videos to supplement and extend the activities on our website. You can subscribe to it and be notified when we post something new!
As always, we are active on Twitter and Facebook but we now have a brand new Instagram page too, where you can see more of our activities being shared.
You can find us @learningoutdoorssupportteam and we look forward to connecting with you there.
Of course, you can always get in touch here if there is anything you would like to see or need some help with.
One of our team and teacher on the COACh programme, Carolyn McFarlane, has written a report on an activity carried out in one of her classes to mark World Soil Day, in December 2019.
Carolyn created responsibility wristbands to encourage pupils to connect with their responsibilities when working or learning outdoors (or anywhere!)
Click on the link below to read the report and to gather some ideas of how to do this with your class.
UK charity Learning through Landscapes hosts international school grounds conference in 2020
National school grounds charity Learning through Landscapes is to host an international conference on outdoor learning and play in September 2020. In partnership with the International School Grounds Alliance, the three-day event is to be packed with practical workshops and learning from the UK and beyond.
Matt Robinson, Director of Training for Learning through Landscapes comments “We are here in Scotland to showcase the best of outdoor learning and play. We are now seen as a country who is leading in many related areas – through our policies and practice around play, outdoor learning and learning for sustainability.” he continues “Outdoor learning has always been a powerful learning context and motivator for pupils. The recent global climate strikes demonstrate that to engage children in global issues in a personal and local way has a significant impact – and school grounds are about as local, accessible and engaging as you can be.”
“As the only UK charity dedicated only to outdoor learning and play in school grounds, we have become the leading source of support, advice and training for schools and nurseries. Our global reach continues with the hosting of this conference, where alongside our UK speakers we will hear from colleagues in Asia, North and South America, Europe and Australasia.” Says Carley Sefton, CEO of Learning through Landscapes.
The event has three main streams of workshop – early years, primary and secondary schools and design of outdoor spaces. Over 300 attendees are expected from across schools and early years settings in the UK and beyond.
You can find out more about the conference at www.ltl.org.uk/isga2020
A study from Swansea University has shown that an hour or two or outdoor learning is not only beneficial for children and young people, but also for teacher wellbeing and job satisfaction.
Have a look at the article in the link below to find out more.
An hour or two of outdoor learning every week increases teachers’ job satisfaction
Beyond Your Boundary is a resource for all educators working in all sectors and with all ages of learner. It provides lots of help, advice and support for taking your class outdoors into greenspace to embed learning.
Members of the Learning Outdoors Support Team were instrumental in creating this resource and will recommend it to schools and teachers who are looking to take their learners outdoors.
So if you are looking for information on taking your first steps outside with your class, have a look at the document in the link below to get started!
Are you involved in nurture in a natural context? Then it is worth checking out this lovely new case study – a collaborative piece between the John Muir Trust and East Ayrshire Council. Click on the link below to find out more.
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