For the first part of this task, I have attached a copy of the mapping of the school grounds/area.
Following on from this, looking at the evidence of existing engagement with sustainable education within the school such as garden area, recycling bins, litter picking ‘wardens, bird boxes and so on, I found that:
- The school have a food recycling rota where the children must ensure that food from the canteen is recycled and collected.
- Scotland’s climate change pledge for communities.
- They have a green charter that I have attached in the picture below
- They school also have Green flag awards [1st award 2010 & 2012]
- They have both a ‘Eco Schools Silver Award 2007’ and an‘Eco Schools Bronze Award 2006’
- The school have recycling bins outside and inside the building
- They have litter picking teams that go around school once a week
Moreover, I looked into the consideration of actual play space for children and its suitability and found:
“Play is what children and young people do in their own time, for their own reasons. When playing, children choose what to do, how to do it and who to do it with.” (Shackell et al,. 2008 p.g.9).
Play space within the school is primarily made up of two playgrounds. One playground caters for P1 to P3, whilst the other caters for P4 to P7. Both playgrounds are large concrete spaces. Both areas have very little grass available, or trees. I believe this to be primarily due to the school’s geographical location (based on a hillside).
The playgrounds are surrounded by fencing which aids in providing a safe environment for children. Children do not have access to leave the school at any point in the day via the playground due to the layout of the school building. The playground also does not go near a street or road and instead runs adjacent to the back of local houses and gardens.
Inside they playground there is a MUGA (multi-use games area) available for children to use. Children are rewarded extra time in the MUGA through ‘star-line’ technique. After each interval and at the start of the school day a teacher or CSA will decide what class has the best line in the playground. The class with the most points at the end of the week receives extra time in the MUGA. The MUGA allows the children to participate in many activities including football, tennis, netball, basketball, hockey and athletics. The school has described that since having the MUGA installed, it has aided in reducing unacceptable behaviour in the school playground, and promotes increased fitness within early age groups.
I find the playground ideal for this school as children can participate in many sporting activities, including football in the playground. This promotes health and well-being but also social interaction with children. The children in the school are also able to participate in sports as this seems an important part of many of the children’s lives (particularly football).
Shackell, A., Butler, N., Doyle., P. and Ball, D. (2008). Design for Play: A guide to creating successful play spaces. [London]: Dept. for Children, Schools and Families. [Online] Available at: http://www.playengland.org.uk/media/70684/design-for-play.pdf [Accessed 13 Nov. 2017].
Finally, after discussing these aspects of sustainable education with the children, I found:
- When discussing with children, they have described the enjoy many aspects of sustainable education.
- Children described that they feel their playground is of adequate space, and that they can play many games during breaks and lunch times. They also thoroughly enjoy the MUGA, so much so that children are reward with extra time in the MUGA through good behaviour and good ‘lines’ when the bell goes at the end of intervals.
- Some children expressed that the only problem with their outdoor space was that it often gets very muddy, which affects the areas in which they can play.
- Children have described they enjoy helping the local community in a simple way by recycling. Children are encouraged to regularly recycle many materials including paper and food. There is also a food recycling team who have the accountability for recycling food across the school one day per week.
- Litter picker wardens are also across the school during break times [break time litter pickers]. Some pupils expressed that they thoroughly enjoy being litter pickers and helping the school to remain tidy and eco-friendly
- An eco-schools audit completed in 2017 also confirmed that the level of litter was low due to measures put in place through break time litter pickers.
- From this audit, it has encouraged more awareness around food-recycling despite their being teams in place to support this with the children.
