Outdoor Learning in the the Outer Hebrides
The work of the Outdoor Learning Team in the Outer Hebrides; Helping soften the classroom walls and to developing Learning for Sustainability
Tim went to Breasclete School to explore the croft land next to the school, there were plenty of invertebrates including a spider who was ‘snacking’ on a fly. The young people used the Field Studies Council fold out charts to identify the species and plants they found and collated the information using cameras and drawing.
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.
In the outdoor team we are passionate about encouraging everyone to appreciate what is around us. We believe the John Muir Award is one very effective way of becoming connected with the place we live and making the learning place based. There is not a set syllabus, it is up to you how you meet the criteria, and it is open to all (families can get involved, and individuals generally from an upper primary level). If you would like to talk about the John Muir Award and how you can take part in it or use it Contact the Team
This can be the school grounds, an area near your school or something further afield?
Do things which will help you understand and become more aware of your wild place. Experience it.
Do something practical and take personal responsibility for making it better
Let others know about your wild place, what you have done and what you have learnt.
There are three levels of award – Discovery, Explorer and Conserver. There is a time commitment to each and it should be seen as a minimum and the majority of the time should be spent outdoors. There is no upper limit but time can’t be carried forwards to the next award.
Discovery Award –Â 4 days (or equivalent) minimum time commitment
Explorer Award – 8 days (or equivalent) minimum time commitment
Conserver Award – 20 days (or equivalent) time commitment, over at least 6 months
The Award uses the Head-Heart-Hand Model from Patrick Geddes:
There is a downloadable John Muir Award Information Handbook
In our quest to share the resources we receive, we received an e-mail from Learning for Sustainability Scotland and the fully funded courses in Learning for Sustainability (LfS) they are offering.
The courses are being run by the British Council, University of Edinburgh and Learning for Sustainability Scotland and they are accredited by the General Teaching Council of Scotland (GTCS) and Scottish College for Educational Leadership.
They are offering a great opportunity to consider the difficulties of what Learning for Sustainability means and how do you integrate it into your practice.
Opportunity to study Learning for Sustainability
To look into the background of this the University web site and the Learning for Sustainability Scotland sites are both excellent resources.
If you are struggling for time, Tim can to come to schools and deliver twilight sessions on LfS as it is part of his Masters Degree.
Various resources arrive in our in-tray, here in our hidden office, some of them we think are worth sharing. So occasionally we will put up short posts on things we think are worth a look at.
We received an email from the John Muir Trust about their Literacy and Nature Resource Guide. It is a file with some good links out to other sites and files, what we think useful to teaching staff here in the Outer Hebrides, is the John Muir Award and the CfE document which has details of how the John Muir Award can be linked to the Curriculum for Excellence.
There is their promotional film explaining the Trust and the Award:
If you would like to use the John Muir Award please contact the Isi or Tim and we can help you to set it up and deliver it.
On a slightly wet morning Andrew (who has just started work as the Outdoor Learning team on a modern apprenticeship) and Tim met the young people of Stornoway Playgroup at the Golf Club for an adventure exploring the Castle Grounds. They enjoyed the cover of the trees to shelter from the showers.
All the young people were given a magnifying glass and we explained how to use it. This caused great amusement when they realised they could make other peoples eyes much, much bigger. Quickly they discovered they could use them to look at things and for small things.
Although the waterwheel wasn’t working they enjoyed looking it and it will give us an opportunity to visit again.
Tong School in the summer term of 2017 did a whole school project on outdoor learning, the team supported elements of this.
Tim provided a twighlight session to explore ‘how do I begin to soften the walls of the classroom’ with the staff.
This session led to taking several classes look at the ecosystem of the beach a short walk from the school.
The young people discovered the diversity of the ecosystem using the new resource boxes.
Another class wanted to look at fire; the local fire office came into the school to talk about fire safety, the young people particularly enjoyed seeing how a fire extinguisher worked.
Tim then came in with the fire pan for two sessions; one to reinforce the fire safety lessons and try different ways of lighting a fire and the second to cook on an open fire. The fire pan was set up under a tarp in the school grounds and the young people cooked fruit and vegetable kebabs followed by bannocks which they mixed themselves. After the session the teacher reported several of the young people had gone home made bannocks and asked for peppers with their dinner.
The English and Gaelic nurseries had a session exploring the school grounds which have a lovely stand of trees using the environmental resources boxes, with the magnifying glasses and the sample jars creating a huge amount of interest.
Particularly the large slug they found.
