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.
We can make a difference!
Some news has reached us from TCV, together with OVO Energy who are on a mission to encourage thousands of volunteers and community groups to join in and make a difference to climate, to wildlife and to communities, by planting the I Dig Trees programmes’ one millionth tree by the end of the 2019-20 tree planting season.
These groups have 350,000 carbon busting trees to give away to community groups and volunteers for FREE! The sooner we plant them all, the sooner we will reach 1 million trees together, leaving a green legacy for future generations…
As the proverb states, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.
To claim free trees for your school, class or group, follow the link below:
Please share your work with us and TCV by using the hashtag #IDigTrees
On Monday 21st October, LOST will be hosting CPD for teachers interested in becoming the Lead Teacher for Outdoor Learning in their establishment.
The course is a full day course at the Learning Outdoors Support Team base at St Joseph’s Academy in Kilmarnock. The course aims to cover all aspects of outdoor learning for the classroom teacher, with practical elements running for the specific sectors: ECC, Primary, Secondary and ASN. By the end of the course, the participants will feel equipped to take their pupils learning outdoors. This course is based on training developed by Education Scotland and the Scottish Advisory Panel for Outdoor Education and will contribute towards your GTCS Professional Update.
Content covered includes: Barriers, Perceptions, Policy, Pedagogy, Risk and Safety, Ground audits, Improvement planning, sharing good practice, raising attainment and assessment and evaluation.
It is recognised that there is much diversity within the sectors, so we will aim to support you to use the resources to differentiate for your pupils.
This course is a mixture of indoor and outdoor work, so please come dressed appropriately. Teachers working within East Ayrshire Council can sign up via Gateway. Those interested who work outwith East Ayrshire, can sign up by emailing:
outdooreducation@east-ayrshire.gov.uk
There is a cost of £60 for teachers outside of East Ayrshire Council, not including lunch.
This week – Monday 30th September to Friday 4th October – is Scottish Maths Week. What better way to celebrate than getting outside and experiencing the maths that is all around us?
LOST have created a resource which provides some quick and easy ideas to get outside with your class this week to bring maths learning to life. Click on the link below to access this.
A few months ago, we worked alongside Learning through Landscapes Scotland and New Cumnock Primary School, one of our COACh schools from session 2019/20, to promote taking literacy lessons outdoors. We had a brilliant morning with the children exploring the story of Harry Potter and the class went off to find their own wands. You can see what we got up to and the impact it had on literacy learning in the video below.
Thank you to Learning through Landscapes Scotland for asking us to be involved and to New Cumnock Primary School for taking part.
A big welcome back to all East Ayrshire teachers and staff from all at LOST. We hope that you all had a brilliant summer break and we look forward to another fantastic year of outdoor learning for our young people!
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