Outdoor Learning in the the Outer Hebrides
The work of the Outdoor Learning Team in the Outer Hebrides; developing Learning for Sustainability and helping soften the classroom walls
Tim heard about the new mud kitchen and music wall Uig Sgoil Araich have had built for them. Made from pallets and other scavenged materials it gives the young people a great new place to experiment and take part in imaginative play. They were built by Phill who lives in Uig and look fantastic.
Tim is now looking forwards to going over to play.
If you have any great things you would like to share please contact either Tim or Isi.
Scottish Government as part of its educational recovery strategy, and as recognition of the benefits of Outdoor Learning, they have funded the development of two online training courses. The Scottish Advisory Panel for Outdoor Education (SAPOE) worked with Education Officers from Education Scotland to develop the Teaching Learning Outdoors and Supporting Learning Outdoors Courses for teaching staff and support staff.
Teaching Learning Outdoors
The Teaching Learning Outdoors (TLO) course supports teachers to deliver curriculum learning in an outdoor context. During the course there is opportunity to develop an understanding of the benefits of learning outdoors, key resources and policy, and how to access them to enable delivery of high-quality outdoor learning. The course also covers pedagogy and practical solutions for delivering learning outdoors, as well as creating an action plan for applying the new knowledge gained.
The TLO module is available on the Education Scotland Professional Learning and Leadership Platform site: Log In | Education Scotland PLL
To 23 March 2021 nationally 389 modules were in progress and 490 modules completed.
Supporting Learning Outdoors
The Supporting Learning Outdoors course is for anyone who has a role in supporting the delivery of curricular based outdoor learning. Aimed at classroom assistants, volunteers, instructors, third sector and private organisations, or anyone who wants to work in partnerships with schools to deliver meaningful outdoor learning experiences. The course will help participants to gain an understanding of the Curriculum for Excellence, and the framework for delivering this to pupils, as well as providing resources and ideas to assist good partnership working.
To 23 March 2021 nationally 414 courses were in progress and 279 courses completed.
The SLO course is available on the SAPOE web site: Supporting Learning Outdoors.
Further Training and Help
Here is a short video which was made for the Teaching Learning Outdoor webinars showing what Outdoor Learning can be:
SAPOE What is Outdoor Learning – YouTube
If you need more help, advice or training to develop outdoor learning in your school or class Tim and Isi can help
Here is the link to the Resources for the SAPOE Introduction to Taking Learning Outdoors Webinar (click the link to access the PDF)
The Scottish Advisory Panel for Outdoor Education have tried to collate some resources into one place to help you with Outdoor Learning.
Hopefully you will find some useful ideas and fun things to do on the different pages.
The team are always interested in new ways of understanding, so when they found this page we felt it was worth sharing. It is a great graphical way of understanding how pandemic works, what this mythical R number is everyone is talking about and to help us see a way forwards.
There is an important message from Jason Leitch the National Clinical Director for the Scottish Government about child care. The message is clear don’t do anything different because children won’t understand but be obsessive about washing your hands.
National Clinical Director @jasonleitch speaks to us about outside play and getting children outdoors as many times as they wish while in an enclosed space 🍃🍂🌦
Check out the video ⬇️⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ACU6fWl8pu
— ScotGov Childcare (@ELCScotGov) April 29, 2020
It is a difficult time of uncertainty, in the outdoor team we are very aware of how not understanding things can apply huge stress.
Nobody performs well under too much stress, if we add to this not being able to get outside or to visit your friends, we need to all consider our mental health.
We thought it would be useful to give, hopefully, an easily understood guide to the virus because there are lots of names being used and loads of misinformation on social media.
What do all the names mean?
There are two main names being used in the media for the pandemic we are currently in: COVID-19 and Corona virus. These can be misleading, COVID-19 and Corona are both the name of the disease. The virus has a proper name designated by the World Health Organisation of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 or SARS-CoV-2 for short.
Why are there different names?
Viruses are named based on their genetic structure by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV).
Diseases are named by the World Health Organisation in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).
Why is this important?
The virus is named so scientists can develop tests and vaccines. The disease in named to allow people like Doctors in Health Protection, Civil Servants and politicians to think about prevention, spread, transmission, severity and treatment.
Can I go outside?
You can go outside but you must keep physically distanced from anyone who doesn’t live in your house or family group, this is to prevent the spread of the disease.
You can go outside, if there is an outside space around your house as long as you keep 2m away from anyone who isn’t in you household, you can take exercise there or play. If you are lucky enough to have a garden then playing outside is a great idea.
The current Scottish Government guidelines are :
To enforce social distancing, people in Scotland are being asked to only go outside if they have a ‘reasonable excuse’. These include shopping for necessary food, household and medical supplies, travelling to and from work where working from home is not an option, and daily exercise that adheres to social distancing guidance.
This may change as the crisis goes on.
How long is this going to go on for?
There is no simple answer to this, physical distancing may need to go on for several months. The Scottish Government have said they will keep reviewing it.
I feel very stressed, is there anyone I can talk to or get help?
A good place to look is the Young Mind’s web site.
It is also worth watching this video for a idea of how to face the pandemic
We are going to try and post ideas of things to do outside here and on our Instagram.
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