Tag: Global Citizenship

Spring 2025 LfS Update

National and Falkirk Learning for Sustainability News

The National Learning for Sustainability action plan aims for every 3-18 learning setting in Scotland to become sustainable by 2030 so that all learners receive their Learning for Sustainability entitlement. There are many resources available to support schools in embedding LfS across their curriculum including a self-evaluation and improvement framework which can be found here. Education Scotland has established a peer mentor programme to support all educational settings in developing their whole school approach to LfS. Our Falkirk LfS peer mentor is Samantha Wilson-McCaw, and she can support school or centre LfS leads one on one and/or work with larger groups of staff to support LfS in your curriculum. 

National Curriculum Review Developments – impact on LfS Audit Plans

Click here for updates on our Scottish Government’s review of Curriculum for Excellence. Education Scotland colleagues are leading the co-creation of our updated curriculum framework and Learning for Sustainability remains a core element of CfE. In the light of these developments, the audit of Learning for Sustainability within Falkirk  schools and centres has been postponed. Please use the following links to learn more about the scope and focus of this national review:

Falkirk Pupil Climate Summit

This year’s Falkirk Pupil Climate Summit will be held in early June at Falkirk High School. Each secondary school is asked to send up to ten delegates to represent their school at the summit. Further information about the event should reach you in the upcoming weeks. Read all about the 2024 Falkirk Climate Summit here, and click here to view the Falkirk Agreement reached by the young delegates who attended. At the instigation of our elected members, officers across Falkirk Council Services are working with staff and pupils in schools to realise the articles within the agreement. Progress made with this work will be shared at the 2025 Summit.

Rights Respecting Schools Accreditation and the UNCRC

We are delighted to report that Fiona Malcolm, Faculty Head of Humanities at Braes HS is currently seconded one day per week (Tuesday) to support schools and centres with their Rights Respecting Schools Accreditation process. She will also continue her valuable support and guidance for the UNCRC and Children’s Rights.

Social Enterprise Academy – 2025 Falkirk Dragon’s Den

We are liaising with colleagues in the Social Enterprise Academy(SEA) to prepare for our 2025 Falkirk Social Enterprise Dragon’s Den event. We hope to confirm a late September date for the event and SEA colleagues will lead a professional learning event on 20th March for Falkirk staff wanting to learn more about how to support pupils with their social enterprises. Falkirk schools and centres have completed many social enterprises within their communities and some have received national Social Enterprise Academy Awards. Please click here for more information via the flyer and register for the online introductory training session by emailing sarahrogerson@socialenterprise.academy.

Professional Learning Opportunities:

The International Sustainability Diploma will be available to all schools across Scotland for the upcoming 2025-2026 session. The Diploma, designed and run by The Futures Institute at Dollar Academy, is credit-rated at SCQF Level 6 and is worth 24 tariff points. More information is available here. To register, contact Smith-JA@dollaracademy.org.uk.

Development in Education Centre (DEC)S’ Learning for A Better Future fully-funded, year-long GTCS accredited Professional Learning programme applications for the next cohort beginning in April 2025 close 29.2.25. More information here: Learning for a Better Future 

Keep Scotland Beautiful: Learning for Sustainability / Eco-Schools (register here): 

  • 06/03    16.00-17.00       Exploring Litter and Waste from a Global Citizenship perspective 
  • 12/03    16.00-17.00       Learning for Sustainability & Systems Thinking 
  • 08/05    16.00-17.00       Eco-Schools & Your School Improvement Plan 

SCQF courses (Climate Emergency Training and Biodiversity Action, register here) 

19/03    16.00-16.45       Information session 

Facing History and Ourselves/Scotland’s Development Education Centres & other organisations: 

  1. Taking a Global Citizenship approach to primary science, Thurs, 27th Feb 
  2. Addressing Sexism and Gender-based Radicalisation Online, March 4th 
  3. Using Scotland’s new anti-racism resource (second and third level), Mon 10th March 
  4. Discussing Race & Racism in the Classroom, March 18th  
  5. Approaching the Israel-Palestine conflict in the classroom one year on 20th March
  6. A’Adam’s Bairns: exploring Scottish identity & diversity through music education 27th March

Live Lessons for Learners delivered by Keep Scotland Beautiful: 

  1. 17/03 -21/03/25    Spring Clean Week Live Lessons (including one lesson in Gaelic on 20/03) register 
  2. 12/05-16/05/25    Natural Scotland Week Live Lessons (including one lesson in Gaelic) register 
  3. 20/05/25    (13.30-14.15)   Live Lesson: Sustainable Celebrations register 

Teaching Resources – primary and secondary sectors unless otherwise noted: 

  • Facing History & Ourselves – Resource collection – Wide range of social justice-related lessons Teaching Resources | Facing History & Ourselves 
  • Development in Education Centre collection – resources relating to eco-anxiety – useful during Children’s Mental Health Week Climate Signposts Guide, Tackling Climate Anxiety, Exploring Climate Justice (secondary) 
  • 20th February World Day of Social Justice – selection of resources for use in the classroom: Respect for Diversity: antiracisted.scot, Empowering Young People as Active Citizens for primary and secondary , Equality and Human Rights from Amnesty 
  • International Mother Language Day celebrates linguistic and cultural diversity, These Clothing and Sustainable Food planners explore the intersection of language, culture, and global justice, helping students understand the importance of cultural respect. (scroll towards the bottom of the page to access the planners)  
  • The Sustainables Academy: Free Sustainability and Circular Economy Curriculum 
  • RHET (Royal Highland Education Society) range of professional learning here 
  • Outdoor Learning Directory here 

November 2024 LfS Update

  • Register here for our Falkirk Carbon Ready Classroom training for upper primary pupils between 9.15 and 2.45 pm on Thursday 28th November. This training is provided by Keep Scotland Beautiful colleagues and supports class teachers to work with their upper primary children to build a Carbon Ready Classroom(CRC) and become climate-informed together. The CRC experience can contribute to your school’s Eco Schools journey and supports upper primary teachers and their classes with this vital aspect of Learning for Sustainability.  The teacher support materials for this will be shared in advance of the training. Keep Scotland Beautiful are also offering a teacher training session for CRC Primary on Tuesday 5th November at 4pm, which teachers may want to attend if they missed our session in August. This is the Teams link to join the meeting: Click to join CRC Primary teacher training Tuesday 5th November 4pm.

 

  • Eco Schools Journey – The Eco school process has been simplified to make it less bureaucratic and more pupil-led. We cancelled our online Eco-schools training sessions for children and young people in October/November due to lack of uptake, but our Keep Scotland Beautiful colleagues will contact schools directly regarding alternative dates. A new Eco School Support channel has been created in our Falkirk Learning for Sustainability Team.

The new national Education Scotland LfS site is now live – this comprehensive resource is a key action within the LfS Action Plan Target 2030: A Movement for Change (launched June 2023). It supports practitioners by highlighting what LfS is, through the voices of learners and educators. Explore the landing page and resources here:

🔗 Learning for Sustainability Landing Page

🔗 Advice and Guidance

🔗 Professional Learning

🔗 Sharing Practice

We were delighted to see video from a number of our early years settings within these resources. Click here to watch Glenburn ELCC’s inspirational “Get messy and make mudpies” video. Well done all for sharing this brilliant work. Further examples of powerful LfS practice are being sought, so please contact LfS@educationscotland.gov.scot. if you have work that could inspire others.

  • Unfortunately, there is no Falkirk Social Enterprise Academy Dragon’s Den event this year but SarahRogerson@socialenteprise.academy can still be contacted regarding support for your social enterprise journey.
  • Secondary School Global Social Leaders membership – more information here about this interactive, project-based learning programme where students, aged 11-18, work in teams to design and deliver a social action project. Students will connect with others across the world to learn from each other’s social action journeys through live virtual sessions and student-led, self-paced activities that encourage autonomy and agency. The programme is designed to support problem-solving, communication, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration, enabling students to adapt and thrive in life and the future world of work

And finally, we are asking all schools and centres to complete our first Falkirk Learning for Sustainability audit between October and December of this year. Yvonne McBlain will email head teachers and managers directly with the links to the staff and learner Microsoft Forms. The audit is designed to establish what LfS looks like in our schools and centres and how we can support you better. We have kept the questions as concise and purposeful as possible and will be very grateful for your responses.

Carronshore Primary Pupils Visit COP 26

Staff and pupils at Carronshore PS have been learning about climate change recently. A group of pupils were lucky enough to go to Glasgow and attend a session at the Science Centre during Cop 26. They shared their experience with their whole school at assembly, and this blog post is written using their words. Click here to watch their Twitter video.

Oliver explained that there was a virtual experience at Cop 26.

“We put on a virtual reality headset and saw lots of children. There was a lot of litter on the floor. It was showing what is happening to our planet and our environment. They were carrying a lot of bags and they were full of crisp packets, cans, plastic bottles and clothes.
We need to take more care of our community and area. Rubbish was blasting through the air, going into the ocean.
The children left the rubbish and went away because the rubbish bins were full. We need to get more bins and continue to keep picking up rubbish and recycling it.
I also learned about sea levels rising because the climate is changing rapidly. This is because of ice falling into the seas and melting in the water. This is causing floods and islands are getting swallowed by the rising seas.”

Liam told everyone about the tree of promises.

“At Cop 26 we added our very own promises to the tree of leaves. Jordan promised to walk more. Ava promised to recycle more. Lila promised to use less energy, and Ben promised to park+ stride more.
All the promises were taken to the blue zone to let the global leaders know what promises we want them to make and keep. That gave us an idea. We think each area could make their own tree of promises. We want to see you all getting involved.”

Lily May told everyone that “Tim Peake the famous astronaut was visiting Cop 26 a few days later. There was a chalkboard where we could leave some questions for him. I asked if climate change affects space. Some of our pupils told a news reporter what Cop 26 means to them. You can see them on our Twitter feed.” LInk here.

Jamie thought “at first that we wouldn’t be able to do it but if we start now we can work together. We might be able to do it by 2023. If the adults get rid of the buildings we don’t need, the young ones can grow plants which will absorb the CO2.”

Corey shared that “Since I have been at Cop 26 I have thought about how the world has started to go green and battle climate change. It is also good that the world leaders are starting to listen to lots of young people. At Cop 26 there were lots of people trying to make a change which is very good to see and gives us lots of hope. Even though one person can’t make a change, a lot could.”

Staff and pupils at Carronshore use regular Talking Circle meetings to think about what their Cop 26 legacy could be. At the last Talking Circle they discussed how they could make a difference at Carronshore, and identified these three focus tasks:

1. Meat Free Mondays
2. Recycled Water Bottles
3. Waste free packed lunches.

The assembly closed with the following call to action for everyone at Carronshore PS 

“We are hoping that each area will take on one of these campaigns. Our Captains, Prefects and P7 Assistants will be on hand to support you in making a difference. Working together we can do our bit NOW to help protect our planet for the FUTURE.”

 

Learning for Sustainability in Carron Primary School

We all know how effective learnng can be when it is related to real life, especially when young people can direct further learning and see where/how they can contribute and make an impact.  The subject of  energy usage and climate change was brought to life when  Jenny Deacon, class teacher at Carron Primary School,  worked closely with Brenda Roddy (Climate Change and Sustainability Officer) to explore these issues.

Brenda is able to provide statistics for every Falkirk Council establishment which show how much energy is being used on a daily and annual basis.  These statistics can be used in a range of ways with many opportunities for pupils to influence what they do with that information, where they take their learning and how they link this with global issues like climate change.

carron elec day use

Jenny and Brenda planned two lessons, the first one focused on energy and usage in Carron Primary School but the second lesson involved using heat sensitive cameras.

thermal imaging

The pupils appear to have had an interesting time taking images throughout the school as well as of themselves!

thermal imaging 2We look forward to finding out what Jenny Deacon and her class did with the information they gained from the sessions.

Brenda Roddy is keen to help other schools with issues related to Climate Change and Sustainability and further CPD sessions will be programmed to explore how she can work in partnership with schools.  In the meantime Brenda can be contacted via email brenda.roddy@falkirk.gov.uk.

Global Citizenship resources from Inspire Aspire

Inspire Aspire have new and refreshed  project templates for their Global Citizens in the Making programme ready to send to all primary and secondary schools. They are also operating the WW1: Inspiring Purpose project which was piloted in schools last year. Both resources are free and can be covered with a class or entire year group.

The Inspire Aspire programme is a perfect starting point for helping young people have the educational experience that will best prepare them for their future life and employment prospects. The aim of the programme is to give young people the opportunity to think about some of the things that make them who they are: their values, character strengths and who or what inspires them. Reflection in this manner helps an individual to set goals for their future and also helps to discover how an individual’s strengths can be used to take action on the things that matter most to them.

Visit the Inspire Aspire website to take part in either the Global Citizens in the Making or WW1: Inspiring Purpose projects. They have teacher resources available to help introduce and deliver the project in the classroom.