Sustainable Development Serial Day Task

 

This map has changed slightly as there is now the following;

Grass Area now with two Trim Trails

Willows

Concrete Playground with games painted on.

Class Garden Area

 

Within my placement school there is a tremendous amount of evidence of sustainable development running throughout the whole school as the school are very proactive in their education on sustainable development. The school grounds are laid out very well for the children. Within the playground there is a large area of tarmac for the children to use to play on. There are several games painted on the tarmac: snakes and ladders, squares, shapes, numbers, alphabet games all to enhance outdoor learning as well as netball lines drawn. Also within the school grounds there are several green areas that the children can use to explore with their peers whilst playing and the teachers can take the children to for outdoor learning. There are two willows that are used for exploration and some children told me they sometimes go out there and sit to share their class news. The children have carried out mini beast projects and used the willow to compare the amount of mini beasts that were found there to an area on the tarmac. Furthermore the children have the opportunity to develop their physical skills as there are two trim trails one for the upper and one for the lower primaries. The children are allowed to play on the trim trails as long as there is a classroom assistant supervising. The school raised funds for the trim trails and the children were given an input in to which ones to select to buy thus giving the children a sense of responsibility and hopefully encouraging them to look after the trim trails.

 

I feel that these areas outside provide a significant aspect to the school day for the children as they can let themselves be free and explore on their own or with their peers, taking a break from academic work whilst having fun with a good large play area with differing textures and many activities to choose from.

 

The school grounds have a greenhouse made completely out of bottles and sticks reinforcing the importance of recycling and the use of recycling. Whilst asking the children about this they showed enthusiasm towards the greenhouse and spoke about it with pride. They explained to me that over a course of several weeks everyone had to bring in clean plastic bottles which were then all cut, holes put in and then several parents and children were given the task of building a plastic bottle greenhouse. This took a few days to build. The plastic bottle greenhouse is used to plant seedlings and bring them on to then be planted in each class garden or within the school grounds.

 

Keeping with the theme of growing the children grow things in their own class gardens. Each class is responsible and can grow whatever they want in their garden. Some classes grow vegetables, some have fruit trees near their garden and some grow flowers. The children told me that last year they made potato soup and the cooks used the apples to make apple crumble for dinner one day. The children seemed to have a sense of achievement when telling me this and I can see they were really proud of this and hopefully they will take this home and it will encourage their parents to grow things or hopefully foster a desire to do this when the children grow up.

 

 

As sustainable development is encouraged throughout the wholes school the children were eager to tell me about several of their committees and activities that “Save the planet.” Their eco committee has regular meetings and plan new ways of helping the school gain their green flag. The school have had their green flag for three years in a row but each year they have to be continually monitoring their activities, keep them going whilst possibly looking for new ideas. The children I spoke to were on the eco committee and were very enthusiastic to tell me all about it. They seemed to have a good grasp of the aims and how to keep the school running by recycling which is done using blue bags in each class for paper and the eco committee collect the bags, weigh them and empty them every week although the children did admit sometimes it can be over two weeks. The school also has large recycle bins outside, reinforcing to the children the importance of recycling and not waste. They also mentioned the food waste monitors in the dinner hall who check the children put the waste food in the correct bins. They were hoping to put a food waste bin in the staff room, as there are currently none available. Also the energy monitors who do spot checks that lights are switched off when no one is in a room and they note the electricity metre readings within the school. The committee also run an eco poster competition every year and an eco week throughout the school year to draw attention to and make children aware of how being an eco school is important.

 

 

Keeping the playground clean is another aspect that the children were proud to tell me about. The school have a litter committee that operate at lunch times, where the children go round the play ground and get rid of any litter within the area, putting it into recycle bins and making the playground clean and safe for the children. The litter pickers have tongs and wear aluminous vests. Every week they go around the classrooms letting the children know how much litter was collected hoping that the amount will be reducing in the long run as the children will be encouraged to put their litter in a bin.

 

I was am very impressed with the amount of sustainable development that goes on within my placement school and as the Scottish Government, (2010 p.4) states there should be a “whole school approach to learning for sustainability that is robust.” I would certainly say this is the case within the school. The children also love having roles and responsibilities that are important and make a difference to the school.

 

References

Scottish Government (2010) Learning for Change Report. Edinburgh: Scottish Government