Tag: BA15-16

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Urban environment

Transport

In my urban environment there is many different popular methods of transport. There is a train station, busses, cars, cyclists and many people choose to walk. The most popular method of transport is cars as the majority of houses have at least one however, many people choose to use public transport to get to their work. This is a benefit to the environment as it helps to prevent the amount of harmful fuel affect the atmosphere.

Community space

In my environment there are three schools. One of them is a new build as there was four schools but two of them have been combined into one. This is good for the environment as it cuts down the amount of electricity being used and it cuts down the cost on materials allowing the money to be spent on other areas of the community. There is also a library which anyone can use but it is particularly targeted toward children from pre school to primary school age which helps to aid in their crucially important development. There are also parks and scenic walkways which encourages people to be outside and exercise.

Recreational spaces

In my urban environment there is a sport centre. It offers gymnastics, swimming, dance, multi sports, football, a gym and fitness classes. The sport centre is used my people of all ages but usually retired adults and young children during the day and working people and teenagers later on and the class times are made to suit this.

Industry and work

In my urban environment there is a lot of agricultural work as there is many farms. The farms no longer have animals in them but are used to grow and sell crops. There is retail services such as supermarkets and clothing shops which are heavily used by the people who live in the local area. My urban environment has services such as health centres, a police station and a prison which helps to keep us healthy and safe.

Physical characteristics

There are a few different types of building in my environment. These many include churches, flats and houses. The road organisation is a mix of minor and major roads and motorway access. There is quite a lot of green spaces for example walkways along the canal and pathways around the ‘moss’.

Population density

My local area had a population of roughly 105,000 people in 2011. However this is a decrease on the number of people that there was ten years previous to that which was roughly 108,000. This could possibly have been due to the financial crisis.

Air quality

The air quality level for pollution level in my urban environment is low (1) according to Scottish Air Quality.

 

• The map above shows the floor plan of the school. School A is an open-plan school and F.E 1 are the doors to the playground.

• This picture shows the outside grounds of School A. This picture looks onto the playground behind the gates. The red circular stands are the bins that a group of litters take charge of. This group constantly changes to allow every child to make a contribution to sustaining the Green Flag they were recently awarded.

• This image shows the recycling bins that are situated just outside of the playground. School A prides themselves on “Reduce, re-use and recycle”.
• The litter picking team are educated on what litter goes in the appropriate bins. They are then able to take this knowledge home and practice it using the litter that comes from their own home.
•  Learning this knowledge and skills at this age and stage in their lives, can help to benefit our future environment in the sense that this will hopefully become common knowledge and everyone will be using their recycling bins.

• The picture to the left shows the garden that the school staff members and pupils maintain. Here, they grow plants and vegetables themselves.
• This shows evidence of their existing engagement in sustainable development. It also shows their engagement with healthy eating and their knowledge of where their food comes from.
• During our trip to the farm, it was explained to us that children these days are often unsure of where their food comes from and assume it comes from the local supermarket. This way, they are able to understand the process of how it begins, grows and eventually ends up on their plate.
  During these exercises, the children are also engaging with aspects such as soil and learning how things grow and what we need to use for growth, i.e. warmth, moisture etc.

• This image shows evidence of the pupil’s engagement with recycling paper. Each classroom has a separate bin for paper. The printer/photocopy room also supplies recycled paper and the teachers use this most the time/when appropriate.

• Evidence of the efforts made to save energy by switching off lights and equipment when they are not in use. These kinds of stickers are placed behind every light switch in the open-plan classroom and around the school.

 

• Primary 6 engage in a renewable energy topic. During this topic, they take a trip to the windfarm, and they have a visitor come in who works in promoting this. The visitor delivers a presentation to the pupil’s and conducts a few activities with them on this subject. Here are some examples of the pupil’s posters on wind turbines etc. This shows active engagement in sustainable development.

 

Considering the amount of pupil’s in the school, I believe the actual play space to be more than suitable. It is very large and there is several different gym type equipment scattered around the playground. Alongside this, there are football nets for the children to use. Inside the school, as it is open-plan, it is important there is a space adequate for physical education etc. There is a large gym hall where they can perform these types of lessons and activities. They also hold after school clubs where they take part in different kinds of sports regularly. Alongside this, there is also a noisy-quiet room, which I think is essential in an open-plan classroom. Children can benefit hugely from this area and engage in several different subjects without disrupting any other class/pupil.

During a discussion with children on these different aspects, they agreed that they enjoy using this space. They feel a larger sense of freedom in terms of the noise they can make and the different activities they can take part in. I believe it is extremely important for children to have this time. Furthermore, we discussed the aspects of sustainable development in their school that they enjoy. Pupil’s enjoy the aspect of litter picking as they feel a sense of pride that they are helping keep up the green flag responsibility. To expand on this, the P6’s went on an outing to the beach where their main aim was to collect litter and extend their help from the school to the community. I attended this trip on one of my serial days and they children were split into three groups. One group collected litter with litter pickers and emptied it into black bin bags, one group were active and played some physical games, and the other explored the rocks on the beach and the different types of living things that grow there. They thoroughly enjoyed this and they aim to do this more often. The school also has balls for bird food in the gardens which was another aspect that the children highlighted. They enjoy being able to care for the wildlife during school hours too. Finally, the last point the children brought up during our discussion was their walk/bike to school week. The children explained that they all became competitive with one another and they enjoy that this mini competition also has a major impact on the environment. They were fully aware that the exhaust fumes from cars pollute the air and understood that walking or cycling to school can benefit the environment and have a positive impact on their health in the sense that they are keeping fit.

General Log

Literacy and Numeracy Log

Sustainable Development Task

Sustainable Development – School Map

During your eight serial days, you should spend the equivalent of three days gathering this information, by observing, speaking to class teachers and other colleagues, interacting with learners, reading school policies, and any other appropriate activities. The tasks will be explained in greater detail in relevant sessions during the module.

• Mapping of school grounds/area.

The school is surrounded by flats, shops and main roads and is constantly surrounded by cars and traffic. The school grounds are not massive however; there is enough space for children to play during intervals. There is no greenery either in the school grounds or around it eg. No grass, trees or garden areas. Inside the school there are spacious classrooms, a small canteen which is also used as the gym hall and small offices for the head and depute head teacher, office staff, janitor and resource room.

• Evidence of existing engagement with sustainable education within the school such as garden area, recycling bins, litter picking ‘wardens’, bird boxes, and so on.

The school is an eco-school and has an eco committee in which many pupils participate in. The school also focuses on recycling. Furthermore, within the classroom pupils have different roles each day, such as the ‘light monitor’ – who’s responsibility it is to ensure all the lights and projectors are off when nobody is in the class. There are also litter picking wardens during break and lunchtime so the playground is kept tidy.

• Consideration of actual play space for children and its suitability.

The school grounds are sufficient for play and even have various fun and colourful designs painted on the playground for children. There are also benches around the playground.

• Discussion with children on these aspects of sustainable education.

After discussing with some of the pupils in my class, I have learned that they are extremely keen to look after their environment with a strong focus on recycling – the children feel strongly on this subject and are always asking questions relating to it such as asking the teacher to go and recycle their bottles etc. The children are also very aware of the importance on saving electricity – and like taking on the role of ‘light monitor’.

General Log

Literacy and Numeracy Log

Integrated Arts – Observed Lesson One

Integrated Arts – Observed Lesson Two

General Log

Literacy and Numeracy Log

Integrated Art – Task One

 

In our first session we started with an excercise which proved that everyone can draw and too say ‘I can’t draw’ is not acceptable. We then continued on to look at Art work from pupils from all stages of primary school. This demonstarted ways in which art can be crossed over into different sections of the curriculum. This helped to highlight the different creative processes and capabilities as age progressed. Evidently as the age progressed the work became more structured, uniform like and less imaginative.

Work within the early stage of primary school (primary 1-3) appeared to be more colourful and imaginative. Drawing at this age allows a child to communicate when they have not yet learned how to write and so is a way to express their ideas and feelings. An example of an early stage piece of art work is shown below.