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
Juliet Robertson makes some great recommendations for being outside with early years and primary school pupils in this video.
The comment we like is ‘weather is an adult’s perception not child’s perception’ (8’50”). From the comfort of your desk it looks like a terrible day but when you are out it is rarely wet all day. Preparing to be outside is the important thing.
Hopefully you find her comments as useful as we did. For more information on Juliet her web site is Creative Star
For the last few years the Outdoor Team have worked with the Scaladale Centre to deliver RYA Youth Sailing Scheme Stage 1 and 2 in Harris so this year with the new marina facilities it ran in Tarbert. The new pontoons in East Loch Tarbert Marina made it very easy to run and the facilities are excellent.
In July the CnES Sailing school ran a week of sailing in Stornoway to get the young people to RYA Stage 1 and 2 of the Youth Sailing Scheme. The weather was very favourable with a lovely breeze and sunshine. All the young people achieved the awards.
Tim was asked by Tong School to show them how they could use the moorland, a short walk from the school, to look at the fauna and flora they could find there.
The class wrote their own journey plan to get out to the moor and they organised the class to get there. When they arrived at the moor using the Outdoor Team’s environmental box they researched the plants and invertebrates they found documenting them with photographs and drawings.
We are in the middle of the busy season, with the team out and about working with schools and young people in the outdoors. There are often questions about ticks and Lymes disease, we thought it would be useful to post some information about what to do if you are bitten by a tick and things you can do to prevent being bitten.
It is important ticks should not stop you going outside but to take a few sensible precautions to prevent being bitten and if you are, what to do about it.
Lymes disease if carried by ticks which latch on and then take a blood meal. The Comhairle have produced a leaflet with information on the disease (CnES Tick leaflet). More information can be found on the Lymes Disease Action web site.
There is an excellent YouTube video produced by NHS highland on how to remove a tick with Dr James Douglas
There is also good advice from the NHS Scotland web site:
Ticks are small spider-like creatures that can be found on bushes and undergrowth in Scotland’s countryside, parks and gardens from spring through summer and well into autumn. Most ticks that bite people are unlikely to be carrying the germ that causes Lyme disease, but there’s no way of knowing at the time. So, it is best to:
You can reduce your chances of being bitten by ticks by:
Edinburgh University and The British Council are offering free places to teachers on a professional on-line learning course. The course starts on the 20th April 2018 and it will take about two to three hours of your time each week to take part in discussions and activities. To book a place Click Here
This is a fantastic opportunity as it is a GTCS accredited course and by The Scottish College for Educational Leadership (SCEL).
Scotland is unique internationally in having a requirement for all teachers and education professionals to address Learning for Sustainability (LfS) in their practice. This fully funded professional learning has been developed by experts in online learning and is based on the most up-to-date methodologies.
It will:
On the 15th to 17th January Andrew (the Modern Apprentice) was away on a subsidised Winter Skills course in the Cairngorms. The Course was run by Plas y Brenin on behalf of the Jonathan Conville Memorial Trust. The course offered him a great opportunity to develop his skills, to broaden his experience and to see another skilled practitioner working as an instructor.
The Jonathan Conville Memorial Trust was formed by the family of young British climber Jonathan Conville after his death on The Matterhorn. The aim of the Trust is to provide quality mountain training for young people aged 18 to 30, so they have the skills and knowledge to be safe when out on the mountains.
The course covered winter mountaineering skills such as avalanche awareness, ice axe arrests, using crampons, basic rope work and walking on the ice and snow.
The instructor was Richard Bentley. Richard is an experienced Mountaineering Instructor (MIC) in the Lochaber area providing training and assessment to eager mountaineers, he also comes out to the Islands and runs training courses for us.
On the first day he started the course with acclimatising to the new equipment and the conditions. The skills covered were how to use your boots as a tool and more than just footwear; kicking steps and making ledges. Progressing on to the basics of using an ice axe when walking; using it as a third point of contact to be more stable.
As the day went on there was discussions about how to pick a route across the snow, being aware of the dangers, behaviour of the snow and how to make a safe and sound decision whether that was the way you wanted to go or not.
After Lunch there was some small ice climbing and practising the skills learned earlier in the day on the ice down in Coire t-Sneachda
On the second day due to the conditions, it was too icy and the snow gate was closed, making it impossible to get up to the ski range at Cairngorm, so the day began in the lower car park.
The day started practising the skills already learnt and the group demonstrating this by leading legs for themselves. Leading to ice axe arrests, basic rope skills; building anchors for belaying, abseiling and looking at how to build a shelter in the snow.
When Andrew got back and was think about what he learned from the experience there were three main things: The importance of avalanche awareness (Scottish Avalanche Information Service, SAIS), how crucial good decision making is and not to step in a burn at the start of the day.
The outcome of the third was not only did he have a wet foot but also he was affectionately known as “Burnie” for the rest of the day.
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