Daily Archives: October 7, 2014

Health and wellbeing, Health and wellbeing, Languages, Outdoor Learning, Responsibility of All, Sciences, Skills, Social studies, Uncategorised

Supporting Outdoor Learning in Secondary Schools

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Supporting Outdoor Learning in Secondary Schools
When: Saturday 15th November 2014
Where: Speyside High School, Aberlour
Time: 9:30am-4pm

In the revised GTCS Standards for Career Long Professional Learning teachers are required to “understand and develop the most appropriate contexts for learning including outdoor learning and be able to apply appropriate pedagogies for these environments”. This event aims to support this and build confidence and capacity in the delivery of outdoor learning in secondary schools.

Throughout the day participants will have the opportunity to attend a variety of practical outdoor workshops delivered by teachers and outdoor partners. These workshops will showcase outdoor learning approaches and will demonstrate how these can be incorporated into practice.

A market place and other networking opportunities will allow practitioners to meet with outdoor partners and find out more about the range of resources available to further support outdoor learning.

This is a free event open to secondary staff in Scotland – in particular those who are starting out on their outdoor learning journey and wish to develop their confidence in taking the curriculum outdoors. There is an expectation that those who attend this event will be willing to share their learning with colleagues in their establishment.

Registering for this event:
If you wish to attend this event please register online by Wednesday 29th October @ https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7P9PS8R

Early registration is advised as this event is likely to be very popular. Workshop choices will be sent out at the start of November.

If you would like further information about this event please contact:
Fiona Cruickshanks, Development Officer, Outdoor Learning Fiona.Cruickshanks@educationscotland.gov.uk

Health and wellbeing, Outdoor Learning, Responsibility of All, Senior Phase, Skills, Uncategorised

Outdoor Learning with the National Parks – Senior Pupil Residential, 2nd – 5th September

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At the beginning of September the Senior Pupil Residential took place at Lagganlia Centre for Outdoor Learning in Glen Feshie. This residential which is now in it’s fourth year is part of the Outdoor Learning with National Parks project and was jointly funded by Education Scotland, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority, Cairngorms National Park Authority and the Forestry Commission Scotland. In total 14 schools from across seven local authorities took part in this residential with 64 pupils and 11 staff attending. The aim of the residential programme is to consider the ways in which residential experiences can challenge and support pupils in the senior school, with a focus on leadership, personal development and National Parks. Pupils from as far afield as Portree to Portlethen, Crieff to Clydebank and Banff to Blairgowrie worked in groups throughout the week to complete a range of problem solving and team building activities. All pupils took part in an overnight camp with only a bivi-bag and tarpaulin for shelter! As part of this year’s residential the pupils also had to collaborate with their group to present their thoughts on key issues such as ‘What are the benefits of outdoor learning?’ and ‘How can National Parks engage effectively with young people?’ Pupils also worked towards the John Muir Award and are now completing the final Sharing stage of the award back in their schools.

Feedback from both pupils and staff attending the residential was overwhelmingly positive:

“One of the aspects I benefited from was the opportunity to meet new people form all over Scotland, become more open-minded due to the different areas in which we live, create new friendships, boost my confidence and improve my knowledge of the National Parks.” Pupil

“This week has had a huge impact on the pupils’ social skills and their leadership skills.” Teacher

“The impact on the learners has been massive – they have developed so many skills but especially their ability to come out of their comfort zones and interact with new people from different areas across Scotland.” Teacher

Religious and Moral Education, RME

Improving RERC: Religious Education in Roman Catholic Schools National Engagement Event

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The Curriculum Area Impact Review Report for Religious and Moral Education/Religious Education was published in February 2014. The report highlighted strengths in RERC in Scotland but also identified some significant aspects for improvement which are the responsibility of senior leaders across all sectors. The report is available here.

A national engagement event has been arranged to explore the implications of this Impact Review Report, consider what high quality RERC looks like and how improvements in RERC can be realised, and support continuous improvement in RERC through effective self-evaluation and high quality leadership.

This free one day event is aimed at Head Teachers and Depute Head Teachers across early years establishments, primary, special and secondary Roman Catholic schools and will take place as follows:

8 December 2014: The Europa Building, Glasgow

Places will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.

If you would to book a place at one of these events, or would like further information about the events, please contact Vicki.mckechnie@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk