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 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.
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.
Over the weekend an invitation to sign up for this event arrived, this is a great opportunity run by the British Council and the University of Edinburgh. It is a facilitated online learning course which is free and is a GTCS accredited course (General Teaching Council for Scotland).
Learning for Sustainability (LfS) is one of the Standards for Career Long Professional Learning set out in the GTCS standards. The course is also endorsed by The Scottish College for Educational Leadership (SCEL).
The course starts on the 19th January so sign up soon.
If you answer YES to any of the following questions, then you should be seriously considering this course:
The Course will help you with think about the following:
This is a fantastic opportunity and we recommend considering taking part.
Just before Christmas we were lucky to have a member of the National Navigation Awards team come to Harris to deliver a train the trainer course for us, Dorothy Breckenridge from C-n-Do Scotland was visiting Harris and offered to provide the course. Adam Johnson from Sir E Scott School in Tarbert joined us.
The National Navigation Award Scheme is a great way to introduce people to the skills of navigation in a non threatening way. It takes a stepped approached to navigation pioneered by Nigel Williams of Glenmore Lodge. By breaking the training down into easy manageable stages which can be easily related to the real world is a key component.
It is not a leading award but a recognition of your ability to navigate and there are three different levels bronze, silver and gold.
If you would like us to come and do some training with you so you can deliver the award in a school or group we would be very happy to do this just contact Isi or Tim.
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.
Working with Bespoke Bikes and the Stornoway Trust there is a group of mountain bikers who are helping to maintain and improve the trails in the Castle Grounds. They decided the name they would like is the Trail Trolls.
The Outdoor Team have been working with a group of young people on Saturday mornings with Gavin Earon From the Hebridean Cycling Club, to improve their riding skills. they have been working on the Go Mountain biking awards. The long term aim is to help the Hebridean Cycling Club to develop its junior section. The young people have been away as part of the club to race in the Scottish Mountain Bike series.
On a chilly November Saturday morning the ‘Trolls’ gathered at The Hub for coffee and a very welcome bacon roll before heading out into the Castle Grounds to work on the trail. The Stornoway Trust had kindly delivered a few tons track stone to the top of the trail and with the help of barrows, shovels and a mini digger it was moved down to where it was needed.
The Trolls decided there was an opportunity to not just repair the trail but to make it a bit more ‘bike friendly’. The steps were cleared and then the edge was filled to make them easy to walk down but also to create a ridable line.
There was also the chance to make some bumps for the riders but being careful to ensure the path was still a good path of walkers. This created a good talking point with the young people on multiple users of the same place and looking after your own environment.
Once it was completed there was an opportunity to try it out:
Thanks to Ali Glover from the Hub for organising the morning and the Trolls for a lot of hard work.
Glow Blogs uses cookies to enhance your experience on our service. By using this service or closing this message you consent to our use of those cookies. Please read our Cookie Policy.