For the Sustainable Development serial day tasks, we were given the following instructions:
- Mapping of school grounds/area.
- Evidence of existing engagement with sustainable education within the school
- Consideration of actual play space for children and its suitability.
- Discussion with children on these aspects of sustainable education.
To achieve these objectives, I discussed with the class teacher, the possibility of getting the children involved in an activity that would incorporate all of the above. The class teacher was very keen for me to plan and lead this activity, as it would fit in with their knowledge and skills developed through their recent topic of vandalism, and also link into their current minibeasts topic. I explained my idea of taking the children outside to explore the school grounds, and she was encouraging and supportive of this. She helped me to consider how to presen
t the activity to the class, and we discussed which resources would be needed. To prepare for this activity, I used Digimaps for schools to produce an aerial photograph of the school and grounds. I printed enough copies to allow one between two children, so the children could work in pairs. I gathered clipboards for each map.
I introduced the activity by gathering the children on the carpet area, and asking questions to recall their prior learning of sustainability and environment from their vandalism topic. I explained that we were going to go outside and look for certain items related to s
ustainability, and record these on the aerial map. I made sure the children could find their classroom on the map, and asked them to point out certain landmarks to allow them to get their bearings on the map. I then explained what things they were looking for, giving them three categories: recycling bins, play areas/equipment, and wildlife areas. I asked them to use simple symbols as a legend, using an X to record recycling bins, a circle for play space and a triangle for wildlife areas. I also asked the children to see if they could see any litter in the school grounds whilst we were outside. I gave the children the opportunity to ask any questions before putting coats on and going o
utside. The children engaged excitedly with the task, as they showed me around the school grounds and pointed out the various elements of sustainable practice in the school. I have included a copy of the annotated map at the end of this post.
Upon returning inside, I again gathered the children on the carpet and we discussed their findings. The children had identified lots of evidence of sustainability and were very knowledgeable on t
he purpose of each piece; they understood the importance of recycling waste and providing space for wildlife. One particular area caused much excitement; the compost bin was both an area for recycling waste and a wildlife spot! The children confidently explained how the worms turn the food waste into compost for growing plants in the school garden. I asked the children to tell me about the play space and equipment available in their playground, and how they felt about it. The children told me they enjoyed having a variety of different spaces to play, from a tarmacked basketball area to the wooden trim trail and
sand pit in the natural garden area. We finished off the discussion with a chat about the importance of taking responsibility for our local area and how much nicer the playground looked without any litter present, reinforcing the need to be responsible citizens.
References:
Digimaps website – http://digimapforschools.edina.ac.uk/
