sustainable development education – Learning for Sustainability

Apply for Global Learning Partnerships 2017

GTC 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

Campaign for School Gardening Courses

Campaign for School Gardening Courses, Royal Horticultural Society
The RHS are running teacher training courses in Scotland this year, alongside their Campaign for School Gardening.

– A Year in your School Gardening Club, Edinburgh -28th Sept; Renfrewshire – 14th Oct
This course is full of fun projects and activities to help you keep your gardening club flourishing in all weathers and seasons throughout the year. Click here for more details.

– Apply Primary Level Maths and English skills through the Outdoor Environment, Edinburgh, 26th Oct
Have you ever thought about taking your pupils outside for maths and English lessons? Being in the school garden or a beautiful local green space will inspire your pupils to learn, enjoy and achieve in these subjects. Please click here.

– Cultivating a Healthier School (Grow, Cook and Eat your own produce), Glasgow, 21st Nov
RHS horticulturists have teamed up with Chefs @ School to provide a practical course to enable you to put pupils’ health and wellbeing at the centre of your school with an ethos and culture of great food. Please click here.

Beyond the Panda Education Programme

The RZSS Beyond the Panda education programme aims to provide children with an understanding of China, its language, geography, habitats, flora and fauna and in particular learn about the giant panda and the RZSS China/UK research.

Beyond the Panda travels to schools across Scotland in our new vehicle kindly donated by Arnold Clark. We provide a combination of outreach sessions, teacher training and ‘panda boxes’ for loan. The boxes are filled with games, jigsaws and other fun activities which stimulate learning and classroom discussions. The learning resources enable students to investigate, study and explore a variety of topics within the overall context of giant pandas and China; linking with CfE experiences and outcomes in science, topical science, social studies, language and literacy. With the generous funding from the Confucius Institute for Scotland at the University of Edinburgh our programmes also provide an introduction to the learning of Mandarin Chinese.

Sandie Robb, RZSS Senior Education Officer, said: “The RZSS Beyond the Panda is a fantastic and truly unique outreach learning experience. Through the China Mobile Library, students are able to learn about Chinese history, geography, culture and language as well as about giant pandas and the conservation work of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. The children really enjoy the educational games, whilst learning at the same time. The RZSS Beyond the Panda allows us to inspire the next generation of nature conservationists.”

Miss MacDonald, St. Peter’s RC Primary, said: “After doing the panda box activities with three classes, I can really see the positive impact it had on children’s learning. All classes were engaged and enthusiastic throughout and when speaking with the children after they completed the tasks, they could tell me lots of things that they had learned.”

In addition, classes who wish to progress further in the Beyond the Panda programme are able to work towards a Pambassador Class Award at bronze, silver and gold levels.

See Beyond the Panda in action –

On the road with Beyond the Panda

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdxcO0ohbZE

RZSS China Mobile Library

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60DmB8Yk5yQ

Contact Sandie Robb for further information:

srobb@rzss.org.uk

@Sandie_Robb #BeyondthePanda

GLOW Meet: Get ready for winter

Don’t get caught out with bad weather this winter! Doing small things now can save a lot of trouble later. Take part in our Glow TV event to hear important information from the Met Office, a flood officer and Sustrans on why you need to get ready and what you can do. This will include getting your home and bike ready for winter. Our experts are keen to answer your questions too. This is a great opportunity to get ready for winter!

This glow meet is suitable for upper primary and lower secondary and will be on Tuesday 24^th November at 10.45 – 11.45. Sign up to register here.

In the meantime, visit bit.ly/RfEScot Ready for Winter page to get ideas to use with your class. You’ll find a power point, short video and learning journeys packed full of ideas to get you started. Keep safe this winter!

Aiming for the Global Goals

A number of schools have started learning about the newly agreed Global Goals for Sustainable Development. Scotland was one of the first nations in the world to sign up to the Global Goals, building on the Scottish Government’s existing commitment to the learning for sustainability agenda.

One of the key commitments on education in Global goal 4.7 is that our children and young people are fully involved in building a more sustainable and equitable future. It states that by 2030 we must “ensure all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including among others through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.”

One school in West Dunbartonshire has stolen a march on the 2030 deadline and is already out tackling Global Goal #2 – No Hunger. You can read more about St Eunan’s Primary 7’s learning on food justice and food inequality in their class blog.

Well done to all involved and good luck with your ongoing activities at West Dunbartonshire Community Food Share. If any other classes are blogging about the Global Goals or any other LfS activities, please email Anthony.Hutcheson@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk or let us know on Twitter @EdScotLfS .

Click here for a short animation, created by Sir Ken Robinson, on the 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development.

Apply for extra places on LfS practitioner network

Additional places available for practitioners and leaders with a passion for LfS

Are you passionate about learning for sustainability (LfS)? Do you have experience of leading on one or more aspects of LfS in your educational setting? Are you willing to share what has worked for you and be inspired by other committed practitioners across Scotland?

Additional places have become available on the LfS national practitioner network. Offers of places have already been made through the LfS local authority network. However, if you have not registered an interest through your local authority and would like to be considered for one of the additional places, please email Anthony.Hutcheson@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk .

The network will be convened by Education Scotland in partnership with the Forestry Commission Scotland. The first meeting took place on Friday 30^th October 2015. The second meeting will take place on Friday 11th December 2015. The third meeting has been arranged for Thursday 4th February 2016. Venues tbc.

Aims

The purpose of the network is to create time and space for a cross-authority group to:

share practice and successes
work in a coordinated way to identify gaps in the system and co-create new resources and approaches
disseminate these resources immediately to all practitioners through Glow
work in partnership with national LfS providers to build capacity in the system
share successes and impact through a range of digital platforms.

Person specification

To contribute effectively to the national network we are looking for individuals with skills and expertise across the following areas:

passionate about learning for sustainability
excellent knowledge of CfE and a range of LfS themes and approaches. These may include some or all of the following areas: global citizenship, sustainable development education, international education, outdoor learning and children’s rights
experience of leading and/or contributing to effective change, development and improvement in LfS at school/local and/or national level
proven track record of planning and delivering high quality learning experiences
ability to take a flexible, creative and collaborative approach to working with a range of other practitioners and partners
excellent written communication and IT skills to explain the values of sustainability to a range of audiences, while consistently reflecting upon and modelling those same values
awareness of emerging research and policy developments and how they relate to LfS
ability to disseminate resources, approaches and understanding to peers across their authority.

LfS at the SLF

There is still time to register for seminars at the Scottish Learning Festival 2015.

The Scottish Learning Festival (SLF) is the key education event in Scotland welcoming thousands of education professionals.

SLF 2015 takes place on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 September in the SECC, Glasgow.

Below are some of the key seminars relating to learning for sustainability. Remember that even if the seminars are showing up as full when you register, it can be worth trying to attend on the day, as spaces often become available.

Staff will also be on hand at the Education Scotland stand to discuss learning for sustainability between 3:00 and 3:30pm on Wed 23rd and 12:30 and 1:00pm on Thu 24th.

Wednesday 23rd September

Learning for Sustainability: National Progress, Local Success

Ian Menzies, Education Scotland, SEMINAR CODE B1E

Participation – collaborating with children and young people to raise attainment and achievement

Paul McWatt, Education Scotland, SEMINAR CODE A1B

Scotland Lights Up Malawi

Alastair Davidson, Keep Scotland Beautiful, SEMINAR CODE K3A

If You Go Down to the Woods – Developing Forest Kindergartens

Marian Cairns, Forestry Commission Scotland, SEMINAR CODE B2C

‘Joined up Thinking’. Using the John Muir Award

Phil Thompson, Ardroy Outdoor Education Centre, SEMINAR CODE A2E

Social Studies Resource Launch

Lynne Robertson, Education Scotland, SEMINAR CODE C2E

The Unexpected Outcomes of Youth Achievement Awards

Aileen McGovern, West Lothian Council, SEMINAR CODE C1E

Establishing and developing a successful link with France

Thomas Chaurin, Institut Français d’Écosse, SEMINAR CODE K3C

How do the Scottish Teacher Education Standards and the GTCS Code of Professionalism & Conduct set parameters for teacher professionalism in Scotland?

Tom Hamilton and Lindsay Thomson, GTCS, SEMINAR CODE L2D

Better Eating, Better Learning – practical ideas to put the guidance into practice

Lorna Aitken, Education Scotland, SEMINAR CODE C1B

Thursday 24th September

Working in tandem – using bicycles in the curriculum

Sustrans Scotland and Harestanes Primary School

SEMINAR CODE A1F

Think about it! Philosophy with children and young people

Joe Walker, Education Scotland, SEMINAR CODE M1F

Making it into Higher Education

Martin Davidson, The Outward Bound Trust, SEMINAR CODE A1G

PAS promoting education for all in the planning process

Julia Frost, PAS, SEMINAR CODE D2H

World War One Whole School Context – a collaborative approach

Jenny Watson, Middleton Park School, SEMINAR CODE N1H

Collaboration, shared self-evaluation and partnership with the third sector

Alona Murray, Education Scotland, SEMINAR CODE D1I

Making Rights Real: A Framework for Rights Based Learning

South Lanarkshire Council, Curriculum Quality Improvement Service, SEM CODE L2I

Embedding international education in school: A whole school approach to raising attainment

Lucy Young, British Council Scotland, SEMINAR CODE D2I

Air Quality Learning and Teaching Package

Ben Jackson, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, SEMINAR CODE M1I

Young Reporters Scotland

Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB) have launched a national journalism programme for young people. Young Reporters Scotland (YRS) is a sustainable development initiative which offers young people the opportunity to build their skills and experience in journalism and be part of an international group producing creative solutions to issues within their communities.

Schools and community groups running relevant clubs and activities are invited to enter the 2015 national competition by submitting entries which investigate an environmental problem or sustainability issue. A range of suggested themes are designed to support entrants to identify topics. Creativity is encouraged so entries can be in a range of different media; articles, blogs, videos, animations and photographs are all eligible.

Find out more, register to take part and access support materials at www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/yrs or email enquiries to lyndsay.sutton@keepscotlandbeautiful.org.

‘Out to Play’ with Eco Drama

During a number of recent events and presentations about learning for sustainability, I have displayed the above word cloud with the question “Where do we start?”. Different practitioners offer different responses. My response is to assure everyone that where you start is far less important than actually getting started and making the connections between the many exciting areas of this agenda.

Making connections is exactly what Ben Mali MacFadyen from Eco Drama has been doing throughout the Out to Play project. Working with children and teachers across Glasgow, Out to Play seeks to facilitate interaction with the natural world through quality artistic experiences, re-thinking traditional views of nature as merely ‘sites’ and ‘reserves’, noticing and appreciating nature on our doorstep.

Sessions have been tailored to the unique surroundings of each school, and through imaginative play & adventurous learning, Out to Play aims to deepen young people’s connection to our natural world.

Ben’s blog offers a detailed and reflective account of the process thus far, providing some wonderful insights into the children’s learning. He has also shared a number of very practical ideas and approaches for engaging pupils in the outdoors.

For further information on Education Scotland support for outdoor learning, click here.

Earth Hour 2015

Earth Hour 2015 takes place this Saturday (March 28) when people around the world are encouraged to switch off their lights for one hour from 20:30 to 21:30 as a symbolic gesture of support for global action on climate change.

Organised by WWF, Earth Hour is an annual international event involving hundreds of millions of people who care about our planet.

In 2014, Earth Hour in Scotland included landmarks such as Edinburgh Castle, the Forth Rail Bridge, the Falkirk Wheel, Stirling Castle, Scottish Parliament and the Glasgow Emirates. Internationally 162 countries took part and included iconic buildings such as the Eiffel Tower, Sydney Opera House and the Empire State Building.

All local authority areas in Scotland took part, as did 21 other public bodies and national organisations. Many of these agencies, including the Scottish Government, have signed up to show their support again this year.

Earth Hour presents an excellent opportunity to connect the curriculum to events going on beyond the classroom. It provides a reminder of how concerted local action can have far reaching global consequences. Learners may be aware of stories in the national media about the environmental impact of climate change and the measures society puts in place to try and address it. These issues lend themselves to exploration through many curricular areas. They provide rich, real world contexts that allow learners to make meaningful connections between their everyday choices and the long term sustainability of our world. These types of learning experiences are at the very heart of great learning for sustainability.

Click here for further support and resources linked to Earth Hour and the wider subject of sustainability.