On Wednesday 18th January 2016, Yvonne McBlain attended the Learning for Sustainability practitioner network meeting organised by Ian Menzies, Senior Development Officer, Education Scotland. The event lasted all day and was organised around short “spotlight” presentations by practitioners, followed by longer opportunities to talk with other delegates from around the country. The people delivering the spotlights represented each educational sector and were:

Anne O’Grady & colleagues from Chesters Nursery in Glasgow

Debra May from East Craigs Primary in Edinburgh

Sandra Buchan from Kemnay Academy in Aberdeenshire

Rebecca Chad from Pilrig Park School in Edinburgh

Each person described how they were taking the various elements of Learning for Sustainability forward in their establishment. Anne’s nursery were combining their LfS (especially their outdoor learning) with Health and well-Being (development of pupils’ mental, social, physical & emotional health). They had a range of projects designed to build up the Ethos and Life of their nursery, and increase family and community involvement.

Debra described her role as the leader of a RACI working group in her school, who were tasked with developing LfS across the school. She shared their progress so far. Sandra’s development of LfS as part of her secondary school development plan (she is faculty head of science) also overlapped with her subject-specific responsibilities. She is gradually building up colleague understanding of what LfS actually is, then supporting them in small projects which progress and enhance their pupil experiences. Sandra and Debra both described how some of their colleagues were planning interdisciplinary LfS teaching which linked to the Sustainable Development goals.

Rebecca had recently returned to her role as head teacher of Pilrig following a “Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce” secondment with Education Scotland. She shared some of the practice she had observed in that role, to illustrate how practitioners could also target skills for work when developing their LfS. She is working with colleagues to make LfS meaningful and enjoyable for her pupils with severe and complex educational needs. All of these practitioners would be happy to welcome visitors wanting to see their LfS in action.

During the discussion times, Yvonne was tasked with finding out how other authorities are supporting practitioners in their development of LfS. She met the Leaders of LfS Learning from Stirling council, who are now developing an LfS practitoner network across their schools. Colleagues from Highland Council and Dumfries and Galloway Council are working towards supporting and encouraging practitioners in similar ways. Everyone agreed that there is still a need to develop awareness of the many elements of Learning for Sustainability, and to reassure practitioners that they are already covering elements of it. Jane Jackson and Yvonne have been working with our own Falkirk LfS practitioner network for a few years now – initially focusing on Outdoor Learning. The next national practitioner network meeting takes place in Stirling Court Hotel in March.

Click here to join the national Learning for Sustainability network group in Glow – this will enable you to access resources, and connect with other practitioners working on LfS. Click here to see the presentation used during this meeting.

On Wednesday 16th March, Primary 4 pupils at Kinneil PS celebrated the value of water. As part of their global storyline learning, they created their own community called Forth Mountain. Each pupil is a character with a job in this new community – Jessica F is a baker and she is 18 years old. Jessica K is the café owner and works as a waitress in the café too! Jessica Kr owns and works in the hairdresser. There are lots of Jessicas in P4 at Kinneil PS!

The characters in Forth Mountain get all of their water from a lovely clear lake further up the mountain and have learned to appreciate having this perfect water supply. All of the characters in the village do jobs which help look after the water, and primary 4 planned how to celebrate their wonderful water supply by holding a water carnival.

They made a plan for the Carnival with their teacher Mrs Morrison:

1. Parade around in a big circle swaying to Shakira music and holding up our water float pictures and slogans
2. Take turns to mime our water jobs in Little Mountain
3. Work with our community group to show our still image of the water
4. Sing our water song – complete with the new verses we’ve made up

Yvonne McBlain joined in with the celebration as a reporter “covering” the event for a television network. She interviewed the community groups, who explained why the water was so important to Forth Mountain people. * 

Primary 4 have done lots of learning about water as well as creating their community – one of their most interesting tasks, was to find out just how much water they used everyday in their homes. They were amazed by just how much they and their families use. Below you can see some of their work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Falkirk practitioners can take advantage of the wide range of continuing professional learning opportunities provided by the Scottish Development in Education Centre for Learning for Sustainability. Falkirk CPD Manager makes it easy to sign up for these free training sessions and previous evaluations by teachers have been very positive. Use the links below for more information. Sign up in the usual way using the course codes to help you.

Global learning, sustainable learning: how is it going with you? 26th November 2016, a location of your choice! LfS14

Done Fairtrade? Tried out an issues tree? Like pupil participation? Keen to make local to global connections?

This GLOW meet is all about sharing good practice in Global Citizenship, thinking about how it supports Learning for Sustainability and finding out what further resources and support are available to you and your schools. Click here for the flyer

Fairtrade Christmas – 3rd December, Camelon Education Centre, LfS 10

A professional learning workshop to reflect on Fairtrade within the context of Christmas, our consumer habits and Human Rights Click here for the flyer

Sustainable living: food, phones and fashion – 14th January 2016, Camelon Education Centre, LfS 13

What do you know about how your mobile phone, your food and your clothes were produced? Who made them? What kind of life do they have? What impact did its production have on the environment? 

Click here for the flyer

Global Citizenship: planning for active and participatory learning 10th & 17th March 2016,  Camelon Education Centre, LfS 09

This course offers a practical approach to planning for a Global Citizenship approach to learning in the classroom us an active learning approach. This is a 2 part CPD followed by a Showcase and reflection on 28 April 2016 where participants will have an opportunity to share good practice with other practitioners.

On 28th April 2016, there will also be a special Learning for Sustainability event where we will celebrate the classroom practice which has taken place following this professional learning – sign up using LfS 15. Signposts for Global Citizenship, has an extensive range resources and ideas for many aspects of Learning for Sustainability.