Category: Learning for Sustainability

Scottish Education Awards – Applications open

Learning for Sustainability Award

http://www.scottisheducationawards.co.uk/

Do you know an early learning and childcare centre or school which has a passion for learning for sustainability including sustainable development education, global citizenship and outdoor learning? Then why not nominate them for the Learning for Sustainability Award? If this applies to your school or centre then you can submit an application directly!

 

Scottish Education Awards 2018_ Flyer Learning for Sustainability

The Scottish Education Awards recognise early learning and childcare settings and schools that have developed a vibrant and progressive culture and climate of continuous innovation.

The culture and ethos should promote respect, ambition and achievement while improving outcomes for all learners in ways which eliminate inequity.

Nominations should provide detail about all the activities, programmes and creative approaches that the setting has undertaken.

How are these being embedded across the four contexts for learning?

  • Ethos and life of the school as a community
  • Curriculum areas and subjects
  • Interdisciplinary learning
  • Opportunities for personal achievement

How are you promoting equity, equality, diversity and inclusion in relation to this award category?

What impact are your approaches having on learners, staff, their families, partner organisations, other educational establishments and the wider community?

Nominations close at 12 noon on Wednesday 14 February 2018

Vision 2030+ Report launched by Ministers

Vision 2030+, the Concluding Report of the Learning for Sustainability National Implementation Group, has been formally accepted and launched by Ministers. The Report celebrates the progress that has been made by Scottish Schools since the original Learning for Sustainability Report was launched in 2012 and reaffirms the five strategic recommendations:

  • All learners should have an entitlement to learning for sustainability.
  • In line with the GTCS Professional Standards, every practitioner, school and education leader should demonstrate learning for sustainability in their practice.
  • Every school should have a whole school approach to learning for sustainability that is robust, demonstrable. evaluated and supported by leadership at all levels.
  • All school buildings, grounds and policies should support learning for sustainability.
  • A strategic national approach to supporting learning for sustainability should be established.

The report also sets out the vision for LfS through to 2030 – the target date for realising the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

In launching the Vision 2030+ Report, Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP, Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Sciences said, “I am delighted to mark the formal launch of the Vision 2030+ Report. The report, which should be considered within the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, contains a range of very important recommendations. It is now essential that we maintain the momentum and ensure that Learning for Sustainability is fully embedded across our approach to curriculum and our three over-arching strategic priorities for education: the National Improvement Framework, Scottish Attainment Challenge and Developing the Young Workforce. Learning for Sustainability has a crucial role in supporting and enhancing these priorities.”

Read the Vision 2030+ Report

Watch the video of the launch with the Minister (starting at 9:55). Also includes an introduction by Professor Pete Higgins and a presentation by Ms Irmeli Halinen, former Head of the Curriculum in Finland.

Ministerial Statement for Launch of the Vision 2030 Report

Learning for Sustainability: Connecting Classrooms Programme 2018

Join hundreds of other teachers working in Scotland who have participated in the Learning for Sustainability: Connecting Classrooms course and are now eligible to apply for funding for overseas partnership projects and continuing to work towards GTCS Professional Recognition for Learning for Sustainability.  

There are now more opportunities to take part in this fully funded course with both blended learning (face to face sessions and online coursework) and fully online courses available until June 2018. This is an opportunity to grapple with what Learning for Sustainability means, what existing and new skills are required and how this might look in your school context. Connecting with Curriculum for Excellence and the National improvement Framework it will enable you to plan and implement LfS approaches in your classroom and school.

Dates for training

  • Edinburgh – 9 week course, Begins Saturday 13 January and ends Saturday 17 March 2018
  • For more information and to book your place, click HERE.
  • Stirling – 8 week course, Begins Saturday 27 January and ends Saturday 24 March 2018:
  • For more information and to book your place, click HERE.
  • Online Course –10 week course. Begins Friday 19 January to Friday 30 March 2018.
  • For more information and to book your place, click HERE.

For more information please email Abi Cornwall

UN Sustainable Development Goals -CLPL event for schools

Monday 6 November,10am – 3pm

Edinburgh City Chambers

JOIN US and explore how to effectively embed the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into your work. Like all of our events, we combine practical ‘hands on’ guides, workshops, discussions, presentations, sharing best practicing sessions and lots of opportunities to network.  At this event we will:

  • provide an introduction to the SDGs and Scotland’s communities’ and schools’ response so far,
  • explore how communities and schools can effectively work together to respond to learning for sustainability and the SDGs.
  • Share our Members’ work in short presentations known as ‘pecha kucha’ sessions
  • Give Members an opportunity to contribute to a lunchtime ‘market place’

Through workshop discussions we will work together to identify the knowledge, training and other requirements to increase understanding and action on the SDGs in Scotland’s communities and schools.

A programme and further information will be available soon. This is likely to be a popular event so we recommend booking now to avoid disappointment.  There is a fee of £20 to cover the cost of all refreshments. Please contact Abi Cornwall if you do not have a source of funding to cover this cost.

Book your place by 31 October 2017: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/taking-action-on-the-united-nations-sustainable-development-goals-across-communities-and-schools-tickets-38633758612

Global Learning Partnerships 2018 – Apply NOW

Are you passionate about teaching?  Do you want to be involved in the something that will energise you, inspire you, challenge your perceptions and even take you out of your comfort zone?  Are you ready to accept the learning experience of a lifetime?  If the answer is a resounding yes, then Global Learning Partnerships (GLP) is the opportunity for you.

Developed in line with the GTCS Standard for Career-Long Professional Learning (CLPL), GLP is a high-quality, values based CLPL programme delivered over a total of 36 days, spread across 18 months.  As part of the programme you will take part in a 30-day summer placement working alongside educators in Rwanda or Uganda to gain an insight into a new culture and education system and provide you with an informed context for teaching global education and LfS.  Throughout your GLP journey, you will be exposed to authentic first-hand learning experiences which develop your resourcefulness, resilience, communication and problem-solving skills.

GLP is open to all post-probation classroom teachers in Scotland, from early years through to secondary, and to GTCS practitioners who support the development and delivery of education within local authority departments.

If you are interested, please go to our website for more details (www.glpscotland.org.uk) or contact Kelly Work at glp@thewoodfoundation.org.uk.

Application will be accepted until midnight on Thursday 30th November 2017.

Apply for Global Learning Partnerships 2017

glp-imageGTC Scotland registered practitioners from Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council, Highland Council and Stirling Council are invited to apply for Global Learning Partnerships 2017.

WHAT IS IT?

  • 35 days of CLPL delivered over an 18 month period.  Global Learning Partnerships (GLP) provides participants with the opportunity to spend four weeks, over the Scottish summer holidays, living in host communities in rural Rwanda and Western Uganda.  During this time, participants will work alongside local educationalists and teachers, developing their teaching methodologies and improving the provision of education within host schools.
  • In addition to the four weeks in-country, participants will attend two pre-departure training weekends (March / June 2017) and a post placement debrief (October 2017)
  • GLP is accredited by GTC Scotland in Global Education within Learning for Sustainability.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

  • The programme costs on average £3,600 per person.  Participants are asked to fundraise £1,250 towards this cost.  The remainder of programme funding is met by The Wood Foundation and local authority partners.
  • Costs include: all pre-departure training (accommodation and sustenance), placement costs (flights, living allowance, accommodation overseas, in-country orientation, mid-phase review and in-country support costs), and debrief (training provision, accommodation and sustenance).

WHO DELIVERS THE PROGRAMME?

  • Developed by The Wood Foundation, GLP is currently delivered in Scotland in partnership with Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council, Highland Council, and Stirling Council.
  • In Rwanda, the programme is developed and delivered alongside Inspire Empower Educate Rwanda and The Lotic Group.  In Uganda, The Wood Foundation will work in partnership with Redearth Uganda.

HOW DO I APPLY?

  • Applications are open to permanent, GTC Scotland registered practitioners who work for one of our partner local authorities.
  • Application forms are available by contacting Kelly Work (Kelly.work@thewoodfoundation.org.uk), or by contacting your local authority champion (Fiona Saunders – Aberdeen City; Christine McLennan – Aberdeenshire; Christine Gordon – Highland; and Helen Winton – Stirling).
  • Applications will be accepted from now until 5pm on Friday 6th January 2017.

See flyer below:

download-the-global-learning-partnership-flyer

 

 

British Council: LfS Connecting Classrooms Course

bccc

Glasgow: 14 January – 18 March (Venue TBC)

Edinburgh: 21 January – 25 March 2017 Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh
Oban: 22 April – 25 June 2017 (bookings not yet open, please register interest)

This professional learning initiative by the University of Edinburgh in partnership with the British Council and Learning for Sustainability Scotland, is a timely opportunity for teachers to grapple with what Learning for Sustainability means, what existing and new skills and knowledge are required, and how this might all look in the your school context. Connecting directly with Curriculum for Excellence, involvement will enable you to effectively plan for and implement Learning for Sustainability approaches in your school.

This programme offers teachers the opportunity to engage and collaborate over a ten week period which includes two full day face to face sessions at the beginning and at the end of the period, supported by fortnightly inputs from online materials.

Teachers who successfully complete the programme will be eligible to apply for overseas study visits to partner schools in other countries. Learning can be used to strengthen international links at your school, enriching teaching and learning through partnerships and joint projects.

The professional learning is fully funded.

For more information on the Glasgow course, including what is involved and how to book please click HERE.

For more information on the Edinburgh course, including what is involved and how to book please click HERE.

If you would like to be included on the mailing list for future courses in other Scottish locations, please email Abi Cornwall.   

 

Game of Cones

protreeWe really need to encourage a new generation of plant health professionals. Just think what life would be like if the resources we get from plants like food, timber and medicine were to be in short supply. Trees in Britain provide us with some stark examples of plant health problems. Since the 1970’s a fungus called Dutch elm disease has killed between 25 and 75 million elms. Today it is still spreading in northern Scotland. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated example. The Forestry Commission website lists seven pests and 13 diseases that currently threaten British trees. The problem continues to grow and the rate at which new problems arrive has been accelerated through accidental import as a result of global trade. Recently there has been considerable media coverage of tree health problems, often with dire predictions for the future.

Rather than just wringing our hands we need to do something about this situation. This is why a group of Scottish researchers have taken the unusual step of working with a computer games company to develop CALEDON a survival strategy game about tree health. Their aim is to switch on the younger generation to tree health through the very popular medium of computer games. Any biologist will tell you that diversity of species and diversity of genes within species creates resilience. The old saying about the dangers of putting all your eggs in one basket is absolutely spot-on in the context of plant health. So why is it that our forestry practices have for so long focussed on single species plantations that are often of restricted genetic diversity?

This question is at the hearth of CALEDON which has been developed as part of the outreach and education programme of the PROTREE project http://bit.ly/2cAlyzN and has seen project scientists from seven Scottish research institutes working together. Designed to be an enjoyable game, inspired by the popularity of virtual worlds, CALEDON challenges players to keep a forest thriving under a series of different scenarios with different objectives that include tree species diversity and forest cover. Players choose what trees to plant and have to work within the limits of available funds. Income can be generated by tree felling and pest and diseases have to be contended with. The learning to develop an effective strategy in the game comes from prompts that appear during gameplay and from exploration of the games encyclopaedia.

CALEDON is aimed at early teens and has good links to the curriculum at Level 3 and 4, but experience has shown that much younger players enjoy the game and do understand how to develop successful strategy. Although it is a single player game small group discussion around how to keep the forest thriving is possible as the player is completely in control of the pace of the game and clicks a button to advance time by five years after making as many changes as they like or can afford to do. The game can be played online at www.rbge.ac.uk/caledon and can also be downloaded for offline play. An iPad version of the game is available at the App Store.

 

LfS Showcase for Stirling and Clackmannanshire Schools and Centres

LfS wordcloud

Looking for great ideas for learning for sustainability, outdoor learning, children’s right and global citizenship for your school or centre?

Want to meet other centres/schools and meet partner organisations who can support your work?

If so, come along to the Learning for Sustainability (LfS) showcase event from 16:15 – 17:45 on Tuesday 4th October 2016 in Stirling High School, Torbrex Farm Rd, Stirling FK8 2PA.

The event is being organised through a partnership with Education Scotland and Stirling and Clackmannanshire Councils. It is open to teachers and learners and will include displays and stalls from early learning, primary and secondary schools and centres from across Stirling and Clackmannanshire. Find out about all the benefits of learning for sustainability and how it can promote great learning; help increase motivation to learn; raise attainment; develop skills; enhance community spirit and partnerships; and promote health and wellbeing. Schools and centres will be explaining all the practical and achievable steps they have taken to develop whole school approaches to learning for sustainability (LfS) by building on their existing global citizenship, outdoor learning, sustainable development education and children’s right’s activities. There’ll be opportunities too to find a buddy school to collaborate with and share practice going forward.

A number of local and national partner organisations will be on hand too to explain more about their resources and programmes and how they can offer practical support, advice and professional learning opportunities. Organisations include:

  • John Muir Award
  • Keep Scotland Beautiful/Eco-Schools Scotland
  • British Council
  • Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park
  • Food for Life/Soil Association
  • OPAL Community Scientists/The Conservation Volunteers
  • Community Resilience/Emergency Planning Officers
  • Forth Environment Link…and more

With Learning for Sustainability embedded within How Good is Our School 4? and the GTCS Professional Standards there’s never been a better to time to find out more about how LfS can improve outcomes for learners. The refresh of the Eco-Schools Scotland programme also offers many existing opportunities relating to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and themes relating to LfS.

The event is open to all and is free. If you can, please let us know in advance if you plan to come by emailing Helen Winton at: wintonh@stirling.gov.uk

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