2009 Churchill Fellowship Stuart Cumming

Withers Primary School Renamed

2011-07-01T08:39:00.001+08:00

A first step along the road to developing a school with a more nature focued ethos has been applying to have the school remamed. After an 18 month process involving lots of parental feedback we have been successful in having the new name approved. From the beginning of this year Maidens Park Primary is our new name.

Withers Primary School has officially changed its name to Maidens Park. Situated close to nearby natural hills known as “the Maidens” which are also part of the Maidens Reserve. Statues of 2 maidens adorn the Ocean Drive entrance to Westwood Street which is directly opposite the Maidens Reserve.

Withers Primary School has developed a close link to the Maidens Reserve. Students often walk to the Maidens Reserve and this has become an integral part of the school outdoor learning environment.

The schools links to the Maidens Reserve and its developing nature based environmental program and developed a close partnership with the City of Bunbury through the Habitat Project and the school community has been involved with revegetation and book publication.

Taking Children Outdoors

2010-10-03T07:59:00.002+08:00

This week I decided to get outdoors with my youngest son. We went for a three day hike in the Stirling Ranges. This is a range of hills about three hours away from home. The link here is to a five minute video of our little adventure. Next year I am plannng to take our Year 7 class on a camp and have the children climb the Bluff Knoll section. This is following my involvement in the camp in Wales earlier this year. I really want to challenge the students with some nature based activities.
Stirling Range Ridge Walk

2010-09-16T13:32:00.002+08:00

TREES

Last week a large tree collapsed and fell in the Pre Primary area landing on several students. All students are now safely back at school. Following this unfortunate accident, children were kept away from all large trees until a thorough site inspection could be undertaken by a qualified arborist. This occurred on Friday. In order to get the best advice a very experienced and respected arborist from outside Bunbury was brought in This arborist has some long term concerns about a few trees on site, however has assured me all trees on site pose no immediate danger to students. The tree that fell was, in his opinion, due to what he referred to as a compression split. This occurs when two trees trunks form from the one stump, the new trunk is often referred to as a ‘sucker’. No other trees on site have this occurring. Concern from parents is understandable. When schools have pursued such a nature based grounds, large trees can be dangerous. Schools need to ensure when planting trees that they select trees that are appropriate for schools, and not varieties that drop limbs. The Withers community is keen to see more trees planted and the school is currently planning a large forest area. Working with local horticulturalists and utilising recommended trees will not eliminate this risk but assist in reducing it. Managing similar situations are important in maintaining enthusiasm for grounds development.

Tree Falling at School

2010-09-16T13:16:00.005+08:00

Withers Primary Begins Developing Grounds

2010-08-27T12:02:00.000+08:00

A number of projects are now underway at Withers Primary School. Our Kindergarten and Pre Primary class and Yr 1/2 classes have planted vegetable gardens. One of our local hardware stores, Bunnings spent a great deal of time assisting with planting the vegetable and native gardens and donated plants for the Year 1/2 garden. A scarecrow now graces one of the gardens with another one being constructed. In relation to developing a “Green Belt” at the school, Bunnings also donated around 50 native plants which our Yr 6 class planted at an unused end of the school oval.

The key to success remains with children being involved in developing the school grounds. Our current ad hoc approach is about to change as a new Grounds Committee has just been formed. This committee made up mainly of students but also with staff and parent representatives has been busy surveying all students across the school to ensure their views are heard. I have used my Churchill Fellowship experience to share best practice examples from across the United Kingdom with students from Withers to assist them in making choices.

Kindergarten PrePrimary Garden

Grounds Committee Tree Planting

New Native Trees

Camp Day 3

2010-08-18T23:23:00.000+08:00

HMAS Sydney Memorial

Raft Building

Sandboarding

Dragon Boats

Yr 7 Camp Day 2

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Boxercise PCYC Geraldton
Radio Mama 105.5fm .
Team Games Geraldton Camp School

Camp Day 1

2010-08-17T23:31:00.000+08:00

Yr 7 Camp Geraldton

2010-08-17T23:25:00.002+08:00

Today our Year 7 class headed off to Geraldton for their much anticipated camp, with me driving the bus and 2 other staff members. The 8 hr drive north of Bunbury went well, however the “are we there yet?” questions began within the first hour. On arrival at the camp school we were met by Geraldton Camp School Manager Carol, who ran the children through some team games. Games night is now up and running.

Returning to Western Australia

2010-07-13T11:26:00.002+08:00

I have now safely returned home to Bunbury in the south west of Western Australia. Thanks to everyone who has followed my blog, particularly all those who have posted comments.

I’ve had an absolutely wonderful time and met some fantastic and highly dedicated teachers and outdoor grounds professionals. Although my posts will now be less frequent, I will now use this blog to follow Withers Primary School’s outdoor grounds development. This will be the real test of the success of my Churchill Fellowship, practical application of what I have learnt. I will be presenting my findings to staff at Withers Primary School next Monday.

Canals Wales

2010-07-10T01:11:00.000+08:00

Learning Through Landscapes Conference

2010-07-04T14:45:00.001+08:00

1 July Learning Through Landscapes Conference Winchester England

This year marked the 20^th anniversary of LTL and was celebrated throughout the conference. A number of presenters from around the globe gave insight into where their country was in relation to school grounds development.

Petter Akerblom, Movium Centre for Urban Environment. Sweden. petter.akerblom@movium.slu.se

Movium collects and spreads knowledge on urban outdoor environments and has done so since the early 1990’s. Peter co-ordinates projects, educational activities and reporting. Grounds development was not just about developing a nice setting but about a holistic approach to learning. Petter spoke of a resurgence of school gardens as a teaching tool in Sweden. The government is now committed to education in outdoor environments and is committing 800 000 pounds in an effort to green school grounds. He spoke of how much is spent on indoor classrooms and how little in the outdoors. In most instances it is not seen as a resource. Sweden relies heavily on state funded positions rather than volunteers to develop school grounds. He reiterated a common theme regarding weather and recounted how in the north on

Sweden

where in winter it is dark for 4 months of the year, with severe weather, outdoor learning occurs continuously. The focus on school grounds development is

– Make school grounds more important in the learning process.

– Low Cost

– Involve parents, students staff in the decision making process.

The school grounds should be “A place for learning, an object for learning and a way of learning” His vision is that there are no boundaries between indoor and outdoor learning.

Ko Senda Landscape Architect Environmental Design Institute, Tokyo

Japan

Ko specialises in school grounds design. Schools in Japan are getting behind the school grounds movement. 90% of all schools have a vegetable garden and pets. Schools are designed with this in mind. A great deal of government support is available to promote school grounds development in Japan. He considers the following concepts vital to successful grounds development.

- Space

- Flow Line

- Design

- Environmentally Friendly

- Child participation in design and construction

- Safety

He spoke of Professor Mitsuru Senda’s Theory of Play Space having six elements :Play Structure Space, Nature Space, Hide Out Space, Street Space, Anarchy Space and Open Space. He expanded on this theory as follows.

- OPEN SPACE (Playing Field, Outdoor Stage, Seating and Play Area.

- STREET SPACE (Walkways on street side of school)

- CIRCULATION (Paths that ensure there is no beginning or end to the outdoor area)

- NATURE SPACE (Plants, Symbolic Trees, School Farm including vegetables and flowers, pond\stream, small hills, tunnels, domesticated animals)

- ANARCHY SPACE (Construction site,

- SEATING SPACE (Log bench, space for adults to talk)

- CONTINUITY (Indoor and outdoor spaces need to be connected)

- HIDE OUT SPACE

Often he wasn’t able to include all elements in the design but the more that were included the more successful the outdoor space would be.

Maranne van Lier Stichting Oase and Sprinzaad, the Netherlands

Maranne spoke of the networks of like minded groups that existed in the Netherlands. Again the government was behind the greening movement. He spoke of the large number of public gardens that had been established across the Netherlands. Children were no longer finding nature and were becoming more and more distant from it. Maranne said if children don’t find nature anymore then we need to bring nature back to children. Maranne accepted risk and said it was about communicating this to parents and the community. A book recommended is Playing Outdoors: Spaces and Places, Risks and Challenge (Debating Play) (Paperback) by Helen Tovey.

Helen Tunggal, previously a Principal is currently manager of Learnscapes, an approach incorporating much of the LTS philosophy into a structured approach for implementation of new grounds development projects. Helen reiterated the importance of planning. She recommended the following handbook. http://www.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/handbooks/outdoor_learning_spaces2.pdf

Sharon Danks, Bay Tree Design, San Francisco.

Sharon works with schools across California with vibrant playground design. Her work includes as director of Green School Alliance.

VIBRANT GROUNDS =

- Wildlife Habitats

- Student, community and parent participation

- Water systems

- Energy systems (Demonstration i.e. small wind generator/ solar pump not reducing carbon footprint simply a demonstration)

- Biodiversity ….Green

- Curriculum connection

- Allows active and creative play

- Comfort

- Beauty

- Form Function

Her rule of thumb is to dream big but start small. Have a 10 year plan and just take on one section each year. The plan is actually ongoing and as part of sustainability never actually finishes.

Catherine Andrews, CEO of Learning Through Landscapes

The UK movement with the vision that every child benefits from stimulating outdoor learning and playing. Catherine spoke extensively about LTL which has been detailed elsewhere in this blog.

Brighton and Hove Heritage and Environmental Festival

2010-07-02T07:31:00.003+08:00

30 June 2010

Brighton and Hove Heritage and Environment Festival

LINK TO PICTURES

Today I attended Brighton and Hove’s Heritage and Environment Festival at Moulsecoomb Primary School. Over 700 students from 5 different primary schools rotated through 12 activities over 3 days. Each group of students spending half a day participating in outdoor learning workshops. Workshops included Forest Schools, Food Partnerships, Fermenting, Story Making, Minibeasts, Creative Willow, SAS bread, Archaeological Dig, Neolithic clothes, museum skeletons, farming and the country side, RSPB making bird feeders, herbs, and house building.

A real sense of community existed between the various groups who had been brought in to run these sessions. The emphasis was on nature and the outdoors with a real flavour of history. Children working with archaeologists actually finding medieval artefacts then building Neolithic shelters with staff from ESAMP (?) The school was a real hive of activity throughout the day. The afternoon involved teacher professional development sessions which were an expansion on the morning sessions.

Having seen the schools outdoor learning environment and then the outdoor camp in Wales, seeing outside organisations being brought in to deliver outdoor learning meshed in well with the school’s whole overall ethos. Although an annual activity, the festival value added to much of the learning that occurred as an ongoing part of the schools curriculum.

What was enlightening was that the festival was so well supported by professionals who were delighted to be able to get children involved and excited about what interested them.

Teacher Workshops

The afternoon professional development session was spent with Sussex Wildlife Trust and the Neolithic Builders. The wildlife trust is a charitable organisation which looks after over 30 wildlife areas. A big part of its summer program is running 10 week Forest School sessions. Many teachers who are involved with Forest Schools with the Wildlife Trust go on to do the training and run Forest Schools independently of the Wildlife Trust. Training is 5 days residential followed by a portfolio and written assignments and is usually complete within 12 months. The Wildlife trust demonstrated swish netting for insects and utilizing mini microscopes to look at what was caught in the net. Children were happily make a myriad of objects from willow harvested the previous year. I was given a number of publications from The Woodland Trust including, Hug a Tree, Tree Party, Having Fun With Fungi and Do One Thing For Nature. All these are published by The Wildlife Trusts, www.wildlifetrusts.org

I also spoke with Ganesh and Elaine Kings from Creative Willow Structures www.creativewillow.com who spoke of the endless learning potential with willow.

Much of the building work was very labour intensive and promoted team work to achieve tasks. Very simple tasks for example moving a large log requires problem solving, leadership and team work, qualities which give opportunities of less academic students to often shine. The sessions were well attended from across the district and provided by East Sussex Archaeology and Museum Partnerships www.esamp.com There was a very laid back casualness to the sessions which encouraged networking during sessions.

Shannaghmore Outdoor Education Centre

2010-06-30T17:22:00.000+08:00

28 June pm

Shannaghmore Outdoor Education Centre Newcastle

Northern Ireland

This afternoon was spent with Andy Carden from Shannaghmore Outdoor Education Centre. A similar organisation to a Camp School in Western Australia. However due to their location they are able to offer a wide range of outdoor experiences. I was keen to see how an organisation of this nature linked in to schools and their outdoors programs. This was different from many of my previous visits however a worthwhile addition to my Fellowship, from an independent organisations viewpoint that is involved with schools.

Andy’s official title is as a Warden, but he is essentially the Manager of Shannaghmore Outdoor Centre and was very generous with his time both discussing the centre and giving me a tour of the centre which was really appreciated. Basically the centre offers residential placements for a variety of varying levels of “adventure” outdoor activities for both school students and teacher leadership training. The Centre is subsidised by their Education Department which keeps costs down allowing many less well off students a cost effective residential outdoor camp experience. Primary School residential camps usually run for 2 ½ days but can go for up to 6 days although the longer residential camps occur less infrequently. 9 similar centres exist across different education districts in

Northern Ireland

. Youth groups utilize the facility on weekends.

Due to its location in Newcastle it is nestled between Dundrum Bay (Irish Sea) and the Mourne Mountains, it is able to offer mountain, lake and sea based activities. Specific activities offered include hill walking, orienteering, wet bouldering, climbing, and first aide leadership courses for staff. The real focus of these leadership courses is to get the teacher taking their own classes outdoors.

Primary involvement is not linked directly to the curriculum unless schools specifically request so. Student focus is really simply to experience the outdoors. For many students this is their first experience in the outdoors. Andy spoke of urbanised students who needed to for example learn how to walk on rocky uneven surfaces as they had no previous experience.

Andy took me on a tour of the centre which was well equipped with a large repository of resources to enhance outdoor experiences and ensure conditions outside didn’t detract from students learning opportunities. Included in the store was the following equipment which would be of benefit to any school undertaking an outdoor program.

- Wellington boots;

- walking boots;

- wet weather gear raincoats and wet weather pants

- binoculars;

- pond dipping nets, buckets, magnifying glasses;

- jumpers;

- and litter bags

One element of the centre is assisting with the John Muir Awards. One aim is to leave wild areas in a better state than they find them. Litter bags are always taken into the woods and collecting, and cleaning up sites archives one on the John Muir aims of leaving a natural area better than you find it. A real focus of the John Muir Awards is for disadvantaged children. As part of this Award they get involved with exploring, canoeing, walking, wildlife habitat, environmental care and pond dipping.

Andy suggested a good contact for school grounds would be Liz Wallace of the Magilligan Field Centre. www.welb-cass.org/mfc . Also http://www.outdoor-learning.org/ which is the institute for outdoor learning.

Hazelwood Integrated Primary School (Belfast Northern Ireland)

2010-06-29T06:59:00.001+08:00

Hazelwood Integrated Primary School …Nthn Ireland. I spent the morning with the P7 class who also took me on a tour of their woodland that backed on to the school ground. The integrated part of the school name comes from both Protestant and Catholic students being enrolled at the school. The school is located in an ideal location for an integrated campus. On the school’s Northern boundary is a predominantly Protestant Estate and on the southern boundary is predominantly Catholic Estate with the school sandwiched between. To the schools west is the local woodland which is used extensively for the Forest School program. In Northern Ireland approximately 8% of students are in an integrated school with other students enrolled in either Catholic or Protestant schools. The school is full with a waiting list for families wanting to enrol their children.

Jim McDaid the Assistant Principal is the Forest School Coordinator at Hazelwood Integrated Primary School. He was very generous in giving of his time and sharing resources. At Hazelwood the Forest is managed by the local authority who work with the school in the management of the woodland. The woodland is a public park however during the day few visitors mean essentially the school has it to themselves. Beyond the woods in a huge hill overlooking Dublin. It looks like a persons head lying down, and was the inspiration for the book “Gulliver’s Travels.

While walking through the woods several rabbits were spotted, I felt this was a fairly common occurrence however there was great excitement each time one was spotted. We managed to get really close before they would scamper off. This 17 acre site is a real asset particularly being on the schools boundary.

Jim has developed a set of resources for each year level. These resources are the minimum expectation for students Forest School work. Teachers are free to do more, and many do. Classes usually visit the woods at lease once per month to complete the activities listed in their class book. Jim has used the following web site for developing activities. www.naturedetectives.com.uk

Jim demonstrated a number of Forest School activities with his class.

1. The class went out and played a game of Camouflage… essentially hide and seek.

2. Tree hugging… a student was blindfolded, lead to a tree and had to memorise the tree by touch and was then led back to the start point. The student then had to identify his tree. This was achieved all be it unsuccessfully by going up to trees and feeling them to match the memory from hugging the tree when blindfolded. Great fun and multi sensory. The activity gave students a real micro experience with a tree.

Jim also spoke of other tree activities; Students were taught how to calculate the age of a tree. 2.3 divided by the circumference. Students then had to find a tree that was the same age as them. In another activity they would find the oldest tree in the wood. In the case of this wood the oldest tree was 198 years old. They would then research the period in history when the tree’s life began. Students developed a real appreciation for what essentially will be the largest and oldest living thing many of them will ever meet.

To develop the theme of camouflage one activity was to give all students two pieces of string, one brown and one yellow and having students hide them from each other. All pieces of yellow string were found but none of the brown.

Jim saw the Forest School program as something to develop pastoral care and promote self esteem. The curriculum content was important but not the primary focus.

The school was also heavily involved in the John Muir Awards and used their wood for this. Eco Schools was also big with particular emphasis on energy.

All in all a fabulous visit and very informative.

Giants' Causeway and photos of Ireland and Northern Ireland

2010-06-27T05:33:00.001+08:00

Ireland and Northern Ireland in 2 days!

Giant's Causeway...County Antrim...Northern Ireland

Ireland/Northern Ireland

2010-06-27T05:18:00.002+08:00

Northern Ireland and Ireland in 2 days!

Hi all, this is Mrs Cumming. We are up the north west of Ireland in County Donegal. It is 10pm and Mr Cumming has gone off to find a mountain to climb! It is still light here so we are able to make the most of every day...working during the day for Mr Cumming and then exploring in the afternoon/evening. I read that it has been really cold in Bunbury..we have been very lucky over here, with hardly any rain.

We arrived in Ireland last week and had a few days off visiting Ireland's west coast.There are castles, ruins, cliffs, mountains, green hills, lakes everywhere and it is all so beautiful. We then drove across to Northern Ireland, near Belfast, where Mr Cumming visited the school (see last post), then that afternoon we headed up the coast to see the most stunning scenery....my favourite was a place called the Giant's Causeway (see photos) which is a large mass of column rocks formed over 60 million years ago by volcanic activity.The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal although there are also some with four, five, seven and eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres (36 ft) high and they all fit together like a jigsaw. There are about 40 000 rocks in the area, but I'm not sure who counted them! Ask Mr Cumming the other story of how they were formed which I think is a much better story..about the 2 giants!

We then drove along the coast but it took us 7 hrs to travel 160 kms because we kept stopping to look at all the amazing scenery. This morning we found a very old castle called Dunluce Castle which was built in the 16th Century. It is perched high on a cliff and has started to fall down, but is great to see and read about. (see photos)
We then caught a car ferry to Ireland where we drove to the most northern point of Ireland..a place called Malin Head. Again the scenery was beautiful and we decided to take the car on a gravel track and walked about 1km to a magnificent set of cliffs. Ther are very high and sheer, which means they drop straight down into the ocean. It is really scary walking along the edge of them, but the views were breathtaking. I will put some photos up and if you look really carefully you may see Mr Cumming at the top of one and me at the top of another.
Tomorrow we will explore a tiny bit more of Ireland before driving back to Northern Ireland. Mr Cumming is meeting with 3 different people on Monday in Belfast and then we drive to Dublin (Ireland's capital) to fly back to England where Mr Cumming has a conference as well as a school visit. On Friday we have to be in Wales to visit another school! PHEW! So 4 countries in 1 week!
I know this is your last week of school, so have a safe holiday and we will see you all next term..
Seeya, Mrs Cumming

Fairview Primary School (Belfast Northern Ireland)

2010-06-26T15:00:00.001+08:00

Fairview Primary School
Today I visited Neil McAllister from Fairview Primary School (500 students) in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Neil is a Year 6 Teacher who also co-ordinates the schools environmental programs. I also met briefly with Mrs Maxwell the school Principal. Neil was very generous with his time and despite undergoing his annual assessment the day of my visit was more than happy to have me sit in on his assessed lesson. Neil’s passion for Fairview Primary extends over 6 years as a teacher and beyond that as an ex student.
FairviewPrimary is currently involved in a number of programs I have already looked at to varying degrees: Forest School, Learning Outside the Classroom, John Muir Award and Eco School. What was particularly interesting was how the school incorporated all four programs into a holistic environmental program across the school. Each program supplemented each other and worked well together.
I was particularly interested in what the school did in relation to its Forest School program. The deeper into Forest Schools I went the more it became apparent this was just a part of an overall approach. Eco Schools, Learning Outside the Classroom, John Muir and Forest School all overlapped and supported each other. Neil felt the opening up of the curriculum by the Education Department had made the outdoor environment more relevant.

Forest Schools

This operates across all three P6 classes. Once a fortnight each class visits their local forest which is a 20 minute walk from the school. Classes rotate lesson slots each fortnight.

9:00am – 11:00am Class 1

11:00am – 12:30pm Class 2

1:15pm – 2:30pm Class 3

Sessions are not always coordinated between classes. Teachers run the sessions, however a forest expert provided by the local town authority, Dorothy Blackley remains all day in the forest to provide expert advice and support to lessons. This support is provided for the initial year of Forest Schools and will be withdrawn next year. Teachers will then undertake the program in its entirety, having picked up expertise from Dorothy on the job throughout the year.
I had the opportunity to speak to Neil’s class about Forest Schools and they were so positive. One common thread across the three P6 classes who undertook the program was when returning to class, students were required to keep a detailed diary. Art, Health, Mathematics, Literacy, Science activities were all explained in detail by students. They obviously had retained much of the information covered in Forest School and really didn’t liken this to in class lessons. They just loved getting outside. Next year the school is looking at linking each P6 class with a P2 class for some of their session with older students buddying up with younger students.

School Grounds

The School Grounds have a well developed outdoor area with many spaces providing for future growth. The area was more like a Forest within the school and included some outdoor classroom areas, tunnels and plenty of natural woodland areas. Children were free to play in these areas during break times. Staggered break times occurred due to constraints on facilities so younger students were not outside at the same time as older students. When times do overlap students are restricted to Year level play areas. Neil attended a Growing School Grounds conference in late 2009 which provided him with many ideas which he plans on developing into the school grounds in the future.. Many interesting grounds developments that I hadn’t seen before were as follows:

1. Each year level had a planter and looked after it for 12 months, each planter had a theme including, conifers, roses, healthy food. Classes could add take away and develop these as they saw fit.

2. Year 7 leavers donated and planted a tree to the school grounds, and long term staff who were leaving the school also donated and planted trees.

The grounds development has been underway for four years and shows what is possible in such a short time. The area had previously been a disused overgrown waste area of the school.

Eco Schools

This has also been underway for less than 12 months and the school is already on its Silver Award and looking towards its first Green Flag next year. The driving force behind the Eco School plan is the Eco Committee consisting of 9 students and 2 teachers. The school has major projects operating in Waste Management, Energy, Biodiversity, Water and Healthy Living. There was evidence of all these projects throughout the school. The real message here is Eco School is pupil lead. There is not the legislative requirement to become an Eco School in Northern Ireland as there is in

Scotland

. Travelling through Ireland earlier in the week the vast majority of Irish schools had Green Eco School flags flying. It appears Northern Ireland is beginning to head in the same direction.

The healthy living project included a district competition “Green Mile” sponsored by the local government authority. Students from competing schools either rode or walked to school for a week. Records of distances were kept and submitted in two categories... most distance travelled and average distance per student.

It is encouraging to see what can be achieved in such a short time with the whole school behind the project.
Link to more pictures.

Bonfire Night

2010-06-25T14:43:00.004+08:00

Last night at midnight huge bonfires were lit across the west of Ireland. There was a large one opposite where we were staying. The whole town came out to watch it burn. Bonfire Night is an annual celebration held on the 23rd June (St. John’s Eve). The celebrations take place in towns and villages across the country and centred around the summer solstice. Today I’m at Fairview primary in Belfast which is a Forest School.

Ireland

2010-06-23T16:07:00.001+08:00

Ireland Pictures
I'm now in Ireland heading to Northen Ireland where I will be visiting schools and also the Belfast Activity Centre .

Forest School Wales

2010-06-22T03:24:00.001+08:00

More Forest School Pictures

Here the Forest School program is delivered onsite. The Head Teacher who was away today is seen as a driving force. She actively promotes the use of the outdoors. Through the use of Ed Assistants running and coordinating the Forest School Program all children receive exposure. The program runs regardless of the weather - rain, hail snow or shine. Staff involvement and utilisation of the outdoor facilities varies. If the weather is fine there is a high frequency of usage. One of the down sides to the use of staff running the program is that some staff perceive the outdoor program to be outside their area of teaching and infrequently use the facilities when the weather is inclement. However, the majority incorporate it into their teaching and learning program. The transformation of reluctant learners in the classroom to confident children in the outdoors should be the driving force. The next PD for the staff will involve staff undertaking the role of the students in the Forest School for a day to truly see what their charges are doing when working with Charlotte.
The driving force behind Lisa’s position as a Forest School promoter and developer has come about due to the Government’s Foundation Program. This new mandated policy by the Welsh Education Authority recognises the importance of hands on learning, and how nature can be utilised as the conduit to motivate students.

Small groups of students,(approximately 1/3 of the class), undertake either a morning or afternoon in the Forest School while the remaining 2/3 stay with the class teacher. When undertaking the Outdoor classroom, they have all the students present.

I was really interested in how the program operated, and why it was so successful. I had seen many similar facilities however their utilisation of these through the Forest School Program was different to the more formalised approach undertaken in Outdoor Classrooms. In a similar vein to the Nature Kindergarten, activities were directed but if children chose to go in another direction to the planned lesson, this was fine, even encouraged. What was great in this instance was I was able to observe the class practice. Charlotte T, the Teacher Assistance who ran the program, together with Charlotte the Special Needs assistant were generous enough to let me sit in on their morning session and observe their interaction with nine 5 year old students.

Initially they went through a meet and greet routine where they virtually revised previous practice; this was followed with some discovery sessions on “Fairy” posts that had been left behind. A sharing session where children went and collected interesting objects was followed by an introduction and practical session with wood working tools, utilising natural materials from the school woodland. What was really interesting was that as Charlotte A went through the sessions the children guided and paced the session. If something else took their fancy then that was fine. One student spent a lot of time under a tarpaulin, another crawling through the grass, other students explored mole diggings. All this was fine and assisted in pacing the lesson to individual needs. There seemed to be a great deal of flexibility built into the program. The children also went through a process where they were learning the safety aspects of having a fire as they have a special area to light fires. This was in preparation for doing some cooking in a few weeks.

Beach and BBQ last night of camp

2010-06-17T14:26:00.001+08:00

20 more pictures from today

Slate Mine & Portmeirion

2010-06-17T14:20:00.001+08:00

Today we went for another long walk with the students from Moulsecoomb Primary who are on camp here in

Wales

. A subtle change has come over the students. They appear to have accepted that long walks are a part of what happens on camp, and the complaints of earlier in the week seem to have evaporated. They have pushed their limits and I can fell a sense of achievement amongst them, when they may not have been aware of their own capabilities. Our walk was interrupted by a possible sighting of a “Yeti” by a few of the students. Most saw nothing, however many were convinced and the walk continued with some trepidation. Unfortunately I was in the wrong place and missed all the commotion.

Children collected samples from the woods throughout the walk which really focused their observations. Collected items will be used for art work on their return to Brighton. Lunch by Miners Bridge, a crossing point near a set of waterfalls saw the group have a well deserved rest. After a further hike to the coach the group headed off to Conwy Castle where after some sketching focused students observation a quick tour led by Head Teacher Charles Davis saw another tour led by a teacher for children reaping dividends. The children were fascinated and participated enthusiastically in the question and answer session which Mr Davis ran as they moved throughout the castle ruins.

16 June 2010
Today the camp followed the historical theme with a visit to an underground slate mine, where we caught a train underground and were able to, for a short time, imagine what life had been like for a 12 year old boy who spent his entire life working in the mines….this was a guided tour and really interesting as a follow on of the slate theme of the past few days. We then visited the resort village of Portmeirion.

“Despite repeated claims that it was based on the town of Portofino, Italy, Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, Portmeirion's designer, denied this, stating only that he wanted to pay tribute to the atmosphere of the Mediterranean. He did, however, draw from a love of the Italian village stating, "How should I not have fallen for Portofino? Indeed its image remained with me as an almost perfect example of the man-made adornment and use of an exquisite site..."

(Wikipedia)

The students all did some sketching of the buildings then headed off on a walk through a lush, green forest, followed by a swim at the beach, Today’s summer weather was similar to a sunny winter’s day in Bunbury and even I went for a swim!

As today was the last day of camp we were invited to a BBQ by the lake near the hostel and I was able to teach the kids a rendition of Aussie Aussie Aussie to chant while they were supporting Australia during the World Cup.

It was fantastic to spend time with Charles, Andrew, Jason, Pam and Dorinda…a dedicated staff that the children are obviously very comfortable with. Their commitment was strongly evident and there was mutual respect amongst all staff and students. A fantastic experience and a terrific week with the staff and Yr 6 students of Moulsecoomb Primary School and I appreciate them making me so welcome.

Conwy Castle

2010-06-16T06:55:00.000+08:00

Pictures Conwy Castle Wales

Conwy Castle

2010-06-16T06:06:00.001+08:00

Tuesday 16 June

Today we went for another long walk with the students from Moulsecoomb Primary who are on camp here in Wales. A subtle change has come over the students. They appear to have accepted that long walks are a part of what happens on camp, and the complaints of earlier in the week seem to have evaporated. They have pushed their limits and I can fell a sense of achievement amongst them, when they may not have been aware of their own capabilities. Our walk was interrupted by a possible sighting of a “Yeti” by a few of the students. Most saw nothing, however many were convinced and the walk continued with some trepidation. Unfortunately I was in the wrong place and missed all the commotion.

Children collected samples from the woods throughout the walk which really focused their observations. Collected items will be used for art work on their return to Brighton. Lunch by Miners Bridge, a crossing point near a set of waterfalls saw the group have a well deserved rest. After a further hike to the coach the group headed off to Conwy Castle. Here the children sketched different aspects of the castle. A quick tour led by Head Teacher Charles Davis had showed me the benefits of child centred tours. Children were fascinated and participated enthusiastically in the question and answer session which Mr Davis ran as they moved throughout the castle ruins.

Penrhyn Castle

2010-06-15T04:54:00.005+08:00

Today the camp followed up on yesterday’s visit to the slate mine with a look at the other side of the equation. The owner of the mine built Penrhyn Castle as his family home with his money made from the slate mine as well as money he married into, and this was where today’s visit was centred. The contrast between the extremes of poverty in the mines yesterday and the absolute opulence of the mine owner who was then the 5^th wealthiest man in Britain was highly evident. Unfortunately, I was unable to take cameras in so I couldn’t take any photos, but the extravagance was almost obscene! The children got to experience life in Victorian times, beginning with dressing in Victorian attire (Not the Australian state - the clothes of the period) and participated in three activities. Working in a print factory, playing with Victorian toys, and my favourite - attending a Victorian school. It was amazing to see how the children almost conformed once they had the clothes on and as soon as they were back in their own clothes they were back in 2010 mindset!

Victorian games and toys were so basic; much was left up to children’s imagination. It reminded me of much of what was said at the Mindstretchers Conference. The Victorians had to use their imagination and improvisation really added another element to learning through play which is not prevalent in today’s games. Interestingly many of the children commented on how they would prefer these games to the ones they played now. Perhaps they were just in the moment.

The day ended with a tour of the castle, followed by an hour session in a large forested adventure playground. The enthusiasm of the staff on camp is fantastic and having a teacher run a tour of a stately home as opposed to a tour guide was brilliant. He was able to put everything at the children’s level and the questions posed to them by Andrew (their teacher) made all they were seeing so relevant. A great day...even though I was teased mercilessly by the students for Australia’s 4 – 0 loss to Germany!

Snowdon View (In Song) Head Teacher & Yr 6 Teacher

2010-06-15T01:32:00.002+08:00

Snowdonia National Park

2010-06-14T15:34:00.000+08:00

More Pictures

Today was spent undertaking some planned visits to local areas of interest. The day started with a visit to Electric Mountain, a hydro pump storage electric generating plant located under a mountain in Northern Wales. We ended up over a km under the mountain! We then did a trip up Snowdon Mountain on a small cog driven mountain railway. Although not a serious hike, the 6 – 7 + hour walk, up what were some very serious trails for 11 year olds would have been beyond many of the students on camp. Having climbed up to waterfalls on the mountain the previous day, the trip on the railway felt in order. For the students getting up so high, and amongst the clouds was a first experience for many of them. Speaking to Head Teacher Charles Davis, the risk benefit to having the children climb the mountain themselves could not be legitimised.

The day ended with a hike up an old slate mine, where children collected slate for a later art project back at Moulsecoomb School in Brighton. Although we began today with a fairly set planned educational program, the day ended with a serious physical challenge. Walking the slate path, miners, (many of who were close to the students own age), in only the last century, took this walk daily to work up the side of the slate mine. It really gave the children an appreciation of working conditions in the mine at the time. The old stone structures that once housed a workforce of some 3000 were also explored. The path up was steep and physically challenging with many students wanting to stop. Fortunately they persisted and were rewarded with fantastic views. The descent was also quite challenging and ended late in the afternoon. There was a great sense of achievement from the students and by the time they arrived back at the hostel all the pain seemed to have been forgotten!

What was important about today, was there was still a outdoor based element. Although not the focus of the day it connected to what was being studied. Learning through being outdoors with a physical hands on component tested students both physically and mentally.

Moulsecoomb Primary School (Wales Camp)

2010-06-13T07:10:00.000+08:00

I arrived in Northern Wales last night after a long drive from Keswick in Northern England. I am staying in a small village called Beddgelert and will be spending this week with 30 Year 6 students and 5 staff from Moulsecoomb Primary School in Brighton who are on a school camp in this area.

The main aim for me attending this camp is to see the advantages and disadvantages of a school run camp as opposed to a more structured independently run camp where external providers are utilised to deliver activities.

This school camp differs from activities Withers do on school camps in that there are many more outdoor adventure activities that are all run by the school. Today was the students first day on camp after they undertook an 8hr bus trip from Brighton. We walked ½ way up Mt Snowdon which is the highest mountain in England and Wales, and students were encouraged to have a swim in one of the mountain streams. We then walked to a lake for lunch followed by free time. We finished our walk at Beddgelert where the students were treated to some local Welsh stories. On their return to school they will be using this for much of the basis of their own story writing. They all had to purchase a postcard and write to their parents which I thought was a great idea.

The long trek over approx 8 miles (16kms) took all day and was a real challenge for students and gave them a sense of achievement at the end of the day. The group seemed more close knit following this strenuous walk. The night was finished off with an English draw in the World Cup against USA. Go the Aussies tomorrow against Germany.

Mindstretchers Conference

2010-06-09T07:43:00.004+08:00

Nature Kindergarten and Mindstretchers Training Facility PICTURES
MINDSTRETCHERS
Today I attended the “Mindstretchers- A Child’s Right to be Heard” Conference. First speaker was Richard Louv…author of “Last Child in the Woods”. Richard spoke of the current generation suffering from Nature Deficit Disorder and the narrowing of children’s outdoor opportunities which is happening progressively. Nature does not steal time but amplifies life whereas time spent on electronic devices really does steal time. Richard asked us to recall our favourite play space as a child. For all present it was in an outdoor setting, away from supervision and not a manufactured, commercial play space. He spoke of his favourite play space when growing up and the freedom he experienced there. There is a tendency for children going outdoors less often, due to a perceived risk which is amplified by journalism and scare tactics. Over the last 15 years there has been a real disengagement of children with nature. Richard said in his grandparents time they had freedom to roam up to 15 miles from home. For some children of today, the boundary is the front step. He suggested that the current generation of children are under “house arrest’. This change has occurred in 3 decades.
He spoke of the increasing prevalence of ADHD and related this to the increase disengagement with nature. In some schools in the States, 30% of boys are on Ritalin. There have been thousands of studies on ADHD and the effect different medication has. He knows of only 10 studies of ADHD and the positive effect reengaging with nature can have. Of these children, symptoms are much improved even with a small increase in contact with nature. He believes nature therapy should be added as a third tier to ADHD treatment. As little as 5 minutes of outdoor time can significantly impact on children’s mental health. We shouldn’t ignore the positive impact the natural world has on children. The benefits of nature to mental health are well documented.
Many of the current generation of parents are denatured, meaning they have had little or no experience with nature. There is a real over structuring of childhood, with organise sport, violin lessons, dance lessons and the like taking up every waking moment. Parents feel they are doing the right thing, however there is no need to have a child’s day so structured. This needs to be contrasted with enrichment through nature time….that is children having the freedom to be outside, enjoying nature. There is a perception that children are maturing earlier than in previous generations with greater exposure to adult media and internet….this is a fallacy.   Todays 7 year old has the same executive function (decision making ability) as a 5 year old had 40 years ago.    For example when a child is in their own make believe world they are effectively the CEO, needing to make all the decisions in that time and space. With the lessening of this free play and self discovery that used to happen outdoors, children’s ability to make decisions, good or bad, has gone backwards. Children when having free play time, need to be free from adult influence and adult decision making and be allowed to make their own decisions and possibly their own mistakes which is all part of their growth and development.
Family Nature Clubs are a growing movement in the USA. www.childrenandnature.org These clubs allow families to participate in group activities in the outdoors. Family Nature toolkits are available for free download from this site. In the USA, the No Child Left Inside Coalition works to get children outside and actively learning. They hope to address the problem of nature deficit disorder. They are now working on the No Child Left Inside Act, which would increase environmental education in schools. The coalition claims the problem of nature deficit disorder could be helped by “igniting student's interest in the outdoors” and encouraging them to explore the natural world in their own lives. Wikipedia.
In summary, parents and teachers can help by talking with children about their health and enhancing their time in the natural environment. Big issues like climate change, energy and urban design should be talked about positively and how we can look forward to the future. Change is possible…even Sesame Street after not changing its set for 40 years, has this year incorporated a new natural environment set into the production!
Next speaker was Claire Warden, author of “Nurture through Nature”.   Claire is the Founder of Mindstretchers Philosophy and a Senior Consultant. Mindstretchers is a dynamic company, made up of an enthusiastic and dedicated group of people who feel that all children are entitled to learn in a multi sensory and naturally creative environment. Factory produced manufactured toys produce second hand learning when children could explore concepts far more deeply when participating at a more natural level. She questioned why teachers think there are more dangers outdoors than indoors and why we need more supervision outdoors than we do in a classroom. There are numerous dangers in a classroom…eg power points, bookshelves, sharp pencils, pins that students generally know how to use or not use correctly. So why do we think that they are not capable of making correct decisions when playing outside?
Children will learn to manage risks when exposed to them. Why are teachers making decisions about what play equipment children can use at a “certain age” when a 5 year old may be far more capable of using a particular piece of equipment than an 8 year old, yet 5 year olds are banned from that area of the playground? It is an assumption that all 5 year olds are at the same gross motor development stage as each other and all 8 year olds are at the same gross motor development stage as each other. Children of all ages should be able to play in the same area and make their own decisions based on their own risk assessment.
Claire talked extensively on the Nature Kindergartens Mindstretchers had set up locally where children spend up to 80% of their day outdoors in all kinds of weather…rain and even snow doesn’t deter them. This is a very naturalistic and highly consultative environment where children from the age of 2 – 5 yrs have prolonged access to woodland and where self risk assessment is encouraged as is developing independent and confidence.
I was extremely fortunate to be taken out to one of these Nature Kindergartens by Niki Buchan who is part of the Mindstretchers team, is Head of Nature Kindergartens an Educational Development Manager and In-service trainer as well as works in the kindergarten. This visit reinforced everything Claire discussed about the positive aspects on children’s learning and development of the whole person. The training facility and kindergarten made fantastic use of water play, natural vegetation tunnels, gardens, undulating grounds, meeting areas, gates, stiles, sand play, imaginative play areas, dens (cubbies), unsupervised areas. There were stone paths that babies were encouraged to crawl along, plants with prickles that if a child touched it, it hurt but they wouldn’t do it again…without being told by an adult! All part of their ability to self risk assess from the ages of 2 – 5 yrs. See photos.
Next speaker, Professor Peter Higgins who holds a Personal Chair in Outdoor and Environmental Education at Moray House School of Education at the University of Edinburgh. The department has an international reputation and is one of few in the world with both a practical and teaching orientation as well as substantial research interests in the field of 'learning outdoors'.
Pete spoke at length about Outdoor Learning and what really matters is the Place you use, the Activity that is undertaken and the People you interact with. Pete’s website www.education.ed.ac.uk/outdoored has a wealth of information and free tips and activities for educators. Peter quoted from Patrick Geddes who spoke about children learning through the three “H’s”…heart, hand and head (see earlier blog). This reinforced Sue Humphries philosophy at Coombes PS. “Give children responsibility and they will learn”. He spoke about the Scottish Government’s Curriculum for Excellence through Outdoor Learning and how this initiative has reinvigorated outdoor learning. Whenever he is asked the question often asked by detractors of Outdoor Learning… “Why teach outdoors?” he replies “I will answer that when you tell me “Why teach indoors?”    pete.higgins@ed.ac.uk
Final speaker was Tim Gill who is one of the UK’s leading writers and thinkers on children’s play and free time. Tim argues that   childhood is being undermined by the growth of risk aversion. This restricts children's play, limits their freedom of movement, corrodes their relationships with adults and constrains their exploration of physical, social and virtual worlds. www.rethinkingchildhood.com

Tim said society is recasting normal childhood experiences as being high risk and how we are falling play to a “zero risk” approach. This is taking us away form what is vital for children to learn…reintroducing into children’s lives, outdoor experiences of past generations. He also mentioned how children have lost the right to roam in only 3 generations.

In attempt to adopt zero risk aversion in UK playgrounds, playgrounds have become stale, uninteresting and underused resources. Challenges that children enjoyed were seen as high risk and so were removed.

In summary, don’t set the bar at the level of the most risk adverse parent or staff member. As quoted on Tim’s website, “Children have the potential to be more resilient, capable, creative and able to learn more than we give them credit for. Yet their lives are becoming ever more scheduled, controlled and directed.” “ We need to accept that it is natural and healthy for children to explore, take risks, make mistakes, seek out adventure and test boundaries.”
www.rethinkingchildhood.com
I also met with Rob Bushby rob@johnmuiraward.org John Muir Award Manager. There is a possibility of developing a Withers Primary School link with the John Muir Award. This award was mentioned by Alasdair Earnshaw in a previous blog. I also met with Dr Robbie Nicol a Lecturer from Edinburgh University Robbie.Nicol@ed.ac.uk who was very interested in the Churchill Fellowship and has requested a copy of my report.
The Mindstretchers Conference was on outstanding opportunity for me to tie together many of the practices I have observed in schools and supporting organisations. The number of additional contacts I have made will assist me greatly on my return to Withers PS. I would like to thank Juliet Robertson who I finally met yesterday. Juliet was instrumental in assisting me with much of what I have undertaken in Scotland.

Bone Caves & Stac Pollaidh

2010-06-06T06:54:00.000+08:00

Todays Pictures... Stac Pollaidh and Bone Caves

2010-06-05T05:10:00.000+08:00

Tonight Jennifer and I were watching the sun set in a quiet bay just out of Ullapool. We couldn't believe it when we spotted two otters who came in really close chasing fish. We watched them for about 15 minutes, then as quickly as they appeared, they were gone.

Strathconon Primary

2010-06-05T04:36:00.000+08:00

Strathconon Primary Pictures

Strathconon PS

Strathconon PS This was a small rural school in an isolated setting consisting of 20 students led by Head Teacher Aileen MacQueen. Although not a large area, the school had made an outstanding use of the space they had. Areas included: a fantastic willow tunnel, a bird hide which was supported by the Royal Society for Protection of Birds, a “blethering” area (a talking place) which was their outdoor classroom, vegetables grown in tubs outside the classroom, a large area of the garden had a variety of flowers that children had planted, well defined paths, compost bins, bird feeders, rock climbing wall as well as play equipment. A significant feature from this school that differed from others was the bright labelling and sign posting of each area which really highlighted its purpose. The school was undergoing its inspection and I was able to have a quick chat with Alan Urquhart a HM Inspectorate of Education. He spoke about the move from formalised National testing as a school assessment tool to self assessment, led by the Head Teacher. This reflects the developing context within which Scottish schools now operate. Focusing specifically on the impact of schools improving the educational experience and lives of Scottish pupils through learning and their successes and achievements, particularly the broad outcomes for learners within Curriculum for Excellence links in very closely with the move to outdoor learning. I was very appreciative of the staff’s hospitality on what was obviously a very busy day for them.

Broadford, Auchtertyre and Loch Duich Primary

2010-06-04T06:22:00.000+08:00

Broadford, Auchter and Loch Duich Primary Pictures

Auchtertyre and Loch Duich Primary Schools

Auchtertyre and Loch Duich where a school cluster and both sites were visited and at differing stages of development of their outdoor curriculum. With the latest Curriculum in Excellence initiative including a comprehensive outdoors focus, these schools have refocused on their outdoor areas. Auchtertyre was a large site with lots of areas for students to play in, in the natural areas that were developed over time. Lots of use was made of tree cuttings, to make temporary fences which over time would decay, and bring their own areas of biodiversity. There were plenty of areas of placements of cut logs, to encourage minibeasts. Woodland areas had log cuttings placed where many students were able to build cubbies at lunch time. Alasdair said this was brilliant particularly with some of their more active, children who often had behavioural issues. Since they have been involved in building cubbies at lunch time a real improvement in behaviour has occurred. The school had a number of willow constructions including one constructed of tessellating triangles. Grants were utilized throughout both sites to develop natural playspaces.

Students worked with a Local National Trust Ranger to plan the play areas in both schools. Alasdair Earnshaw gave them a brief that addressed both risk management and Curriculum for Excellence guidelines and students with the Rangers guidance were free to develop what they wanted for their natural play spaces.

Part of the new Scottish Curriculum for Excellence had refocused both schools approach to providing relevant outdoor experiences for students. Relevant, inspiring, engaging education for every child and young person in Scotland was really giving new emphasis to incorporating outdoor learning experiences for students. The aim being to produce citizens for the future.

A large number of hawthorn hedging had been planted along the schools boundary. After investigation the National Trust informed the school hawthorn was a dying species. It’s one of the biggest supporters of biodiversity as its thorns keep predators at bay.

Mardi Wood, Principal Teacher was responsible for the fantastic work being done as part of the Eco School program. Recycling was taken a step further at Auchtertyre where great use was made of disused soccer goals, two were tied together and used as the frame for a large willow dome. At Loch Duich disused Crocs (shoes) and boots festooned fences and were filled with soil and small plants. There was even an old sink being used as a planter.

Loch Duich had been assessed the previous day for their Green Flag as an Eco School. There was a plethora of literacy and numeracy activities associated with the outdoors and the environment. Located on the banks of the loch extensive use of this natural resource at their doorstep was made.

The school is heavily involved with the John Muir Award. The John Muir Award is an environmental award scheme focused on wild places. It encourages awareness and responsibility for the natural environment, in a spirit of fun, adventure and exploration. The Award is open to all, and is the educational initiative of the John Muir Trust. Four Challenges are at the heart of each John Muir Award; discover - explore - conserve - share. It was a very enjoyable afternoon spent talking with Alasdair and I really appreciated the time he gave me.

Mountain Climbing Skye

2010-06-03T05:04:00.000+08:00

Video Mountain Climbing

Last weekend I climbed one of the high peaks of Skye. Here is a short video on the trip.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Gaelic reading Kilmuir Primary)

2010-06-02T07:40:00.002+08:00

Staffin, Kilmuir & Uig Primary Schools Isle of Skye

2010-06-02T05:39:00.000+08:00

Staffin, Kilmuir & Uig Primary Schools Isle of Sky Pictures
Isle of Skye

We arrived on the Isle of Skye over the weekend and have spent the last 3 nights based in Portree. Sunday afternoon and Monday were spent exploring the “island” with Mr Cumming climbing huge mountains and Mrs Cumming going on long, amazingly scenic drives! Have a look at the photos and you will see how beautiful this place is.

Staffin PS

Today (Tuesday) I visited Staffin PS and met with Head Teacher (Principal) Margaret Nicolson. Margaret is actually Head Teacher over 2 sites, the other being Kilmuir PS. This is thought to be cost effective, but obviously a huge workload and one of the challenges is reassuring parents that each school is of equal importance.

A major part of the school ethos is of looking after the environment. Recycling bins are located out the front of the school, in the staffroom, school canteen and every classroom. Any scraps left over from the school canteen go into a compost bin.

Children plant and ultimately harvest the produce with the school cook cooking meals and utilising school produce when possible. I appreciated the time Margaret spent with me at such short notice.

Kilmuir PS

I was shown around Kilmuir PS by Elaine Henderson a Nova Scotian, Gaelic speaking teacher. There were 19 students at the school…3 students in one class where lessons were all delivered in English, and 16 students over 3 classes where lessons were give only in Gaelic. Elaine even read The Very Hungry Caterpillar in Gaelic to us!

The school overlooks a main shipping channel and students are able to look up on an internet site and see which ships are passing by at a particular time. The outdoor area consisted of the following:

drystone dyking (a wall that is constructed from stones without any mortar). Students observe insects that live in these walls for science lessons and study the different types of lichen that grows there.

a poly tunnel (greenhouse) where plants including vegetables are grown and where students are currently undertaking minibeast research. The school also creates its own mulch and students are able to take home the vegies they grow.

Uig PS

I was greeted at the school door by Head Teacher Myra (Mary) Holt and 5 smiling children. This was the entire enrolment of the school. I also met Teacher Assistant Christine Morrison. This school is in a building over 100 years old and also has magnificent views over the ocean.

The very enthusiastic students showed me around their school...inside and out and were particularly proud of their “grow bags’, where each student had a bag like our green recycling shopping bags. They had decorated them with their names and had planted a variety of vegetables including: carrots, potatoes, rocket, spring onion, lettuce, cabbage, celery, leek, broccoli and some herbs. If by the end of the year, the plants hadn’t fully matured the children were able to take the bags home and nurture them there. They were also able to keep the produce. The school received a grant which was used to purchase the grow bags and the seeds/plants.

Within the school grounds students were able to build their own cubbies and also had their own rock climbing wall, which was an initiative from the local council which funded these walls across Skye.

I was able to chat with the students about Australia and thoroughly enjoyed meeting them all as well as the 2 wonderful staff.

Isle of Skye

2010-05-31T04:55:00.001+08:00

Isle of Skye Pictures

This weekend is a long weekend in Scotland. Currenly we are on the Isle of Skye.

Earth Calling Edinburgh

2010-05-29T06:20:00.000+08:00

Day 12 Edinburgh

Link to pictures Edinburgh Primary Schools and Castle

Today’s visit was with Gus (Angus Egan) the Manager of Earth Calling (EC) “a virtual stomping-ground of Earth Calling, Lothian’s leading provider of inspirational, hands-on environmental education, Grounds-for-Awareness-approved grounds development and wildlife fun and experiences for primary and secondary school aged young people.”.

I met Gus at Blackhall School, which has 300 students. They have developed a woodland on the school site over the past 12 years. We then went to Davidsons Main PS a school which is just beginning to develop a woodland on the school site. It was great to see one school at the beginning of its ground development journey and comparing it with a school that has an established natural resource.

Gus was involved with the Forest Schools, where groups of students were taken to local woodland areas for 1 day a week for 6 months with the focus being on teaching woodland ecology. This approach had a major impact but on a limited number of students due to funding constraints. The concept of bringing a woodland into your school and incorporating that into the curriculum has a far more wide ranging impact.

Earth Calling is very much a hands on approach. They recognise learning in the classroom is important, but getting outside and experiencing a natural classroom is far more successful in ingraining learning into students. Rather than learning from books about the Amazon Rainforest, utilising school woodlands is a far more practical approach. Earth Calling runs after school Woodlands Clubs for a large number of Edinburgh schools. This is funded jointly through P and C’s and local council. Children learn to appreciate and interact with nature. A recent after school BBQ included nettle soup, wild boar and squirrel sausage, so students were able to identify which wildlife and plants can be eaten.

Gus had a fantastic relationship with the students which I picked up on very quickly. He talked about the success of his organisation and it being so child friendly, treating children as equals in these settings, making it a rewarding experience for all concerned. I spoke briefly with the Head Teacher at Blackhall School who put the success of the school’s outdoor program down to being a joint partnership with a number of contributors. Gus’s organisation Earth Calling, parents, students, community groups, staff and local businesses all contributing.

Grounds development is a long term approach. Initially Blackmore School had a 5 year woodlands development plan, however this in now into its 12^th year and the planning continues, but has no end date. The Head Teacher commented that what made an exceptional school in grounds development was a long term consultative approach where the outdoor grounds become part of the fabric of the school.

It initially began with a Grounds for Awareness grant of L1000, however after 12 years a mature woodland boasts hedgehogs and badgers. The badgers can be viewed on EC’s website where a night webcam has been set up. They also had a “minibeast hotel” which consisted of a box with various natural materials to encourage minibeasts, which the students had made. To observe the minibeasts they simply pulled out a natural material which would uncover minibeasts!

The school had student Wildlife Rangers, who were responsible for monitoring and looking after the schools woodland area. Written applications and interviews ensured this highly sought after responsibility was allocated to eco friendly committed students. Over 100 written applications were received for a limited number of ranger positions.

The other school visited was Davidsons Main PS. This had a huge school ground and EC has just assisted them in developing a large woodland area within in the last month. The area included willow thatching, a board walk with wheel chair access and a large outdoor classroom which was 30 logs randomly interspersed and to access it students had to walk through a willow tunnel.

Interestingly, both schools have ponds which were fenced and had been approved by the local council. Earth Calling led by Gus is passionate about the environment and educating students to be earth aware and that small changes by a number of people can make a difference. Earth Calling is achieving and I was privileged that I was able to spend the morning with Gus. Link to Pictures Edinburgh

Forth Environmental Link & Grounds for Learning (Stirling Scotland)

2010-05-28T05:36:00.000+08:00

Churchill Fellowship – Stirling.

I met this morning with Di Blackmore from the Forth Environment Link (FEL) which delivers successful programmes at grassroots level with the aim of informing and encouraging environmental awareness and more sustainable lifestyles. Di talked of Earth Education which was initially set up by Steve van Matre and Joseph Cornell. They promoted heuristic play (an experience-based technique that helps in problem solving, learning and discovery).

Central to this approach is using real life objects for play. The FEL had a large number of resource boxes that were available for loan to schools. These boxes had numerous real life objects such as bones, bark, shells, rocks, soil in them and these were available for schools to use for this heuristic play. Di talked about getting the message across to teachers that there is no topic that you can’t take outdoors. Traditionally teachers have been limited to science and natural environment type subjects. She gave an example of a school who were studying Mary, Queen of Scots. They were learning about the plants, traditional medicine of the time and climate…that is to say, not seeing the outdoors as an add on, but being at the heart of the topic.

FEL are developing capacity building amongst teachers, by utilising the Train the Trainer model rather than them delivering ad hoc PD to individuals. They believe in getting people outside. Outdoors is where society meets the world. Some teachers are initially frightened to move learning outdoors as they are not the font of all knowledge and often students are more knowledgeable than the teachers. FEL promoted and believed in action through education to develop and encourage sustainability. The head, hand and heart philosophy promoted by Sue Humphries, Coombes founding Head Teacher educates children to make decisions for themselves. This means you put a concept into the students head, teach it through their hands and they pick up the belief for life in their heart.

Changing the “odd to be green” thinking is vital and this is being achieved through educating children. There was a big focus on recycling and getting recycling into schools. Eco Schools focus was on litter. Both schools I visited in Stirling today had the Eco flag flying. Di also spoke about the Royal Society of Prevention of Accidents /www.rospa.com/ and how this organisation analysed risk benefit in outdoor learning play areas and endorsed this approach as being beneficial. When soft floor playground surface was introduced, injuries increased as children felt the risk of a hard surface had been removed so were less careful in managing their own risk.

Stirling Council has introduced an inside/out outside/in policy which lays out what the Stirling Council’s expectations are from early year’s outdoor experiences at schools. This has encouraged the approach from many previously uncommitted schools. Utilisation of other services was encouraged to make communities work together and avoid duplication. e.g Ranger services assisted in making bird boxes for schools, bringing in people who are passionate about their interests is also encouraged…when a class were studying flight, the local pigeon racing club visited the school with their pigeons!

I visited 2 schools today in Stirling…East Plean PS and Forth River PS and also a community outdoor adventure playground. Featured in these schools were a sensory trail, puddles, wildflower plantings, willow tunnels, vegetable gardens, bird feeders, and diggings and they made fantastic use of natural play areas. Di is passionate about environmental education and it was extremely worthwhile spending the morning with her.

Grounds for Learning

This afternoon I had a meeting with Alastair from Grounds for Learning. (GFL) We were made welcome by the other Grounds for Learning team – Steve and Eileen. Alastair was very generous giving me his time at very short notice.

GFL is the Scottish program of the Learning through Landscapes based in England. GFL have three main areas of focus. Promoting outdoor education, practical projects such as grounds development and professional development for teachers. Alastair was very generous giving me his time at very short notice. Felicity is the Learning through Landscapes contact person in Winchester for schools who can take out a membership. Membership entitles schools to contact, question and seek feedback or advice for outdoor education. Alastair also spoke of Mary Jackson, another Churchill Fellow from the UK who may have contacts in

Australia

One of their aims is to look at how schools can use what they already have in promoting outdoor education and a lot of their work is focused on their website which is being developed as a one stop shop. The GFL team thought in terms of hardware (the physical grounds) and the software i.e the culture of the school and how to develop both those areas. GFL promoted using outdoor education to engage parents who were reluctant to be involved in schools. One example was where parents spent an hour planting wildflowers with their children. It would have been a lot simpler to plant this area himself, however the outcome wasn’t only about planting seeds, but getting parents to participate in school activities. It was a non-threatening way to get parents into the school. Another example was a teacher arranged for a mosaic feature to be displayed at the front of the school. Children who bought in broken china and glass were able to work on the mosaic, but only if a parent was with them, for 1 hr each morning. Children were so keen to participate that they put pressure on their parents to come to the school and stay for the hour with them. Again a non-threatening environment for parents to participate in.

The Scottish Govt. has put together a number of publications to promote “green” education. A publication “Wee Green Fingers” funded by the Scottish National Heritage Trust provides each Kindergarten aged child with a starter pack which includes seeds to plant and practical activities. Children are encouraged to take these home and work together with their parents to utilise them.

Curriculum for Excellence through Outdoor Learning is another publication which legitimises the GFL ethos. They have a well developed website that includes a significant section on Outdoor Learning. The only real issue for some schools is a lack of funding to support the initiative. The Government is supportive and provides guidance. GFL is working with 30 + schools on their outdoor play areas. Each development operates on an average budget of approx L4000. Utilising local materials, volunteers, local contractors, parents and students assists greatly in not only reducing costs but maximises community participation.

GFL sees outdoor grounds development as not a one off makeover, rather an ongoing, slow and steady grounds development. A consultative approach and involvement from the whole community ensures the longevity of these projects. Some of the current projects GFL are working on include orchard projects where traditional crops/varieties are planted, natural play area projects and developing woodland play areas. Many schools are fortunate enough to have woodland areas in their boundaries and are utilising these as outdoor classrooms, however the challenge in many schools is to open these previously out of bounds areas up to students for free play during breaks. Schools I have visited, including East Plean PS in Stirling were making fantastic use of these areas during break times.

GFL were promoting nature as a daily ongoing part of school life, not an intermittent procedure. Using outdoor learning to promote nature on an ongoing basis develops in students an ongoing empathy with nature. The office location of Grounds for Learning in Alloa just east of Stirling, reinforces the message of the GFL team that nature and the outdoors can coexist with a modern world.

Beautiful Scotland

2010-05-28T02:11:00.000+08:00

Beautiful Scotland

2010-05-27T15:58:00.000+08:00

Today we are in a most historic town called Stirling and Mr Cumming is meeting with some people here, so I thought I would hijack his blog and tell you about some of the less educational but beautiful scenery we are seeing.

After leaving Glasgow we drove north along the edge of Loch Lomond which I have always wanted to see because when I was growing up we were taught a song about Loch Lomond. A Loch is what we call a lake and although this was not that wide it is long and on the other side of the Loch beautiful mountains roll down to the water. There are so many old buildings everywhere, you can't believe it. Castles, ruins, manors, churches....some, people are living in, others are there for people to look at. After Loch Lomond we headed west and up to Fort Williams and again on the way up there, there were mountains, lakes, castles! We stayed the night at Fort William overlooking a Loch which we loved and then the next morning headed up to Ben Nevis...I have been told that a Ben is a mountain and a Glen is a valley....so I hope that's right. We caught a cable car 1/2 way up a mountain range and then Mr Cumming and I went for separate walks, with Mr Cumming going off the track as per usual to climb up to some snow, where he filled his water bottle. He loves climbing mountains particularly where there is snow!

We then heard about the Glenfinnan Viaduct which was the bridge used in 3 Harry Potter films where the Hogwarts Express travels across it, so we thought we must go there and take some pictures, especially for Chloe Anderson as I know how much she enjoys reading Harry Potter. That was absolutely unbelievable. I didn't realise a bridge could be so beautiful and for me it was quite breathtaking.

We continued up to the west coast to a place called Mallaig, a very picturesque fishing village with oceans on one side and mountains on the other. The roads are very narrow in most of these towns with buildings right on the edge of the road. We think we could see the Isle of Skye across the ocean and we hope to go up there next week. We then headed back inland and up to a place called Glencoe where there were the most magnificent mountains and waterfalls. It looked like something out of the dinosaur ages and Mr Cumming has said he will be coming back to Scotland one day to climb those mountains. All along the edge of the road are poles a couple of metres high and these are so people can find the roads when there is snow. It is hard to believe these mountains could be covered in snow as the only snow we are seeing is right on the very top of these high, high mountains.

We are now in Stiriling and I know there is a huge castle here with a moat that we will go and look at once Mr Cumming is finished working. It doesn't get dark till around 10.30pm so you can fit a lot into 1 day. Mr Cumming went for a walk late last night to the castle and said he nearly fell into the moat and was going to have to wait for a knight in shining armour or a fair maiden to come and rescue him. Fortunately he didn't fall in as I'm not sure there are many of them around any more!! This afternoon we head off to Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland and I have been told this is another beautiful place.....there are so many!!

Hope all is well at Withers...I heard you are having loads of rain..we have been very lucky...no rain as yet. Hope you are all enjoying the blog and I know Mr Cumming is really keen to talk with you all about what he has found in schools in Scotland and England. Take care.....Mrs Cumming

More Pictures Glasgow Schools

2010-05-27T07:13:00.003+08:00

PICTURES GLASGOW SCHOOLS DAY 2

Glasgow Schools Day 2

2010-05-26T17:05:00.000+08:00

Churchill Day 9 (Glasgow Day 2)

Kelvindale Primary School

Kelvdindale has 450 students and is in a nice area of Glasgow with a very supportive parent group. Dorothy and Julienne showed us around. They are an Eco school and were proudly flying their green Eco flag out the front. As an Eco school they maximise recycling their rubbish. There is huge parent support in the school for their organic garden. After school gardening club is run by parents twice a week with up to 25 students participating. I was shown the organic vegetable garden by Angus – a parent who ran the gardening club and his enthusiasm was highly evident and contagious. During Gardening Clu children were free to garden or just be in the area. Last week for example they volunteered to tidy up illegal dumping that occurred in the schools woodlands. This then became a school project with letters to the Council and a general concern by the students. I was particularly impressed by the students we sspoke to and their knowledge of their local school environment was wonderful.

Statistically, 90% of gardeners garden as a result of seeing seen their parents garden. With a lot of the students living in high rise apartments, gardening may have missed a generation and now the school has allowed students to experience the benefits of having their own garden. Allotments are available however there is a minimum 7 year waiting list and sometimes up to 30 years waiting!

The school had a large native woodland area that they were making extensive use of in lessons. Development of the new National Curriculum to incorporate the woodland area ensured classes used this resource across all learning areas. Woodchip paths in the woodlands had been constructed by local conservation groups. Additionally Grounds for Learning Government grants of up to L10 000 were available to develop outdoor classrooms. Students had submitted a plan for this together with a number of fundraising activities and the construction of this school’s outdoor classroom will commence shortly.

The Royal Bank of Scotland will provide 20 employees for 1 day to help build this facility. This is seen as being part of their community responsibility. Private business, parental and student support is indicative of a whole team approach to education. The outdoor Eco approach appears to be endorsed throughout the community and after listening to the students who spoke with me, their enthusiasm, knowledge and commitment for the environment will ensure ongoing success with this initiative.

Eco School is run by the Federation for Environmental Education. This group began recently and has gradually spread to countries across the world. Although it is in New Zealand it has not reached Australia. There aim is to bring learning to life through the use of the outdoor environment.

Hazelwood Primary School is a school for 42 vision impaired students, aged from 2 – 19 years. The majority also had additional intellectual and physical disabilities. There were 60 staff members. The school is approximately 3 years old and was built on a parkland where a lot of the established trees remain. There was extensive use of vegetable gardens throughout the school. This included specially raised beds that allowed for wheelchair access. There was a greenhouse that was accessible to all students and this was very much a multi sensory approach. Fruit trees have also been planted throughout the grounds. A webcam in one of the numerous nesting boxes that had been placed throughout the ground allowed the students to observe the hatching of chicks.

Students had use of the entire school grounds during breaks and despite the many challenges facing these students they were encouraged to experience the outdoors daily. For me, this reinforced risk taking is important and develops childrens’ understanding of their limitations. Attempts to make play areas safe often goes overboard and prevents children from maximising their potential.

In all schools I have visited so far, there were initial concerns from staff about the increased risk from outdoor play areas. At Hazelwood, minor injuries did occur however these were no more than would be experienced in a general school playground. Any sceptics concerned with the risk associated with outdoor playing areas should come to Hazelwood and see these students playing in outdoor free play areas and their concerns would be quickly dispelled.

Glasgow Schools

2010-05-26T15:25:00.000+08:00

Glasgow Schools

2010-05-25T07:23:00.000+08:00

Today was spent with Mark Irwin, the Sustainable Development Officer for the City of Glasgow. This local authority is so committed to environmental education in primary schools that they have committed funds to employing Mark, who currently works with a large number of schools in the Glasgow area. Mark has a science and biology background and has worked in numerous locations throughout the world.

Our first visit was Oak Grove Primary, where I was shown around the school by two senior students, one with a Celtic background and one an immigrant from Russia. The Head Teacher, Jane Cerexhe spent considerable time chatting with Mark and myself. Oak Grove Primary’s catchment area consists mainly of council flats and in many cases there is nowhere for the children to experience the outdoors, except at school. Their outdoor classroom had a blackboard mounted on a wall, a number of fruit trees, a seated reading circle (square), a mud play area, mini beast area. Children didn’t use this area at recess or lunch.

Initial reluctance by some was overcome through staff linking the current curriculum to what could be done in the outdoor classroom. That is to say they weren’t taking on additional work, but were delivering the same material in a more hands on/practical way. Every class has bought in to different aspects of the curriculum that are set down in an across-the-school planner…e.g P4 task is compost waste management, P6 manage the mini beast area. The outdoor class is not an additional task or add on, it is delivering the same curriculum but in a different way. The curriculum is the driver.

Steve, from Grounds for Learning was working with students on planning for an outdoor nature based play area. He had taken the students outside for a walk around the grounds and then gathered them for sit down interactive session on what they liked and disliked in the playground. He had a number of pictures of possibilities and students collected what they were interested in and made a photographic montage of what they would like to see happen for their school. The school had received a small grant to work on the free play area and as in other schools I have visited, the children drove the program.

The school has just expanded its grounds through absorbing the grounds of a city based Language Centre building that was resited. Using the Grounds for Learning model, I can see how limited funding can go a long way to achieving what the children want to happen.

Merry Lee PS Head Teacher Elizabeth Mahindru showed Mark and I around the school. The school is 2 years old and has very well developed outdoor free play areas. There are allotments behind the school where the school has an allocated area to grow vegetables. There is a large wind generator that promotes reusable energy which is part of the school curriculum. Although only 2 years old, the outdoor play area was an exciting place for students.

Initially the students were taken offsite into different parklands and were allowed to play. They were then surveyed as to what they most enjoyed in these dense parklands. Responses included rolling in long grass, playing in water, hiding in the undergrowth, climbing over fallen trees, rolling down hills. The students then worked with a landscape designer and planned the outdoor play area. The local Council approved all but the pond and water areas which are still being negotiated.

Parents were involved extensively in the consultation and development stage. A major concern from staff and parents was the health and safety aspects. Holes in grassed areas were seen as potential hazards, however cracks and potholes in hard surfaced areas (bitumen) were common and often unrepaired. This was pointed out to parents who could see the irony. Staff concerns about doing duty in muddy areas was overcome by providing Wellington boots to duty teachers.

A research scientist looked in to children’s accidents in play areas and found that there were far more injuries in playgrounds with tarmac than in developed free play areas. Since the development of the free play areas there has been nil injuries in that area, whereas grazing and minor injuries are an ongoing occurrence on the tarmac.

PLAY EQUIPMENT

There was lots of thatched willow tunnels, huts and walls, really encouraging the children to find their own space. There were fruit trees, large boulders for stepping stones, a rope bridge, wine barrels submerged in the dirt (to hide in), reading circles and a number of quiet areas for children to escape to.

Kindergarten staff were concerned that the area wasn’t fenced, however since utilising the area the K’s know the boundaries and due to the fantastic play area have no intention of leaving anyway.

Using the allotments to grow vegetables developed a close working relationship with many of the elder members of the local community. The school has a number of business partnerships and links, some of which play for two community work days per year, which is appreciated. There appears to be a greater corporate responsibility across the UK. Any developments close to a school require the developers to inject funds into community projects. Schools are often the beneficiaries of these. When the outdoor play area was complete, parents were the first people to play on it during the official opening held in the evening. Children respect and care for the area and despite being open to the community no vandalism occurs. In summary, an outstanding outdoor area and inspiring to see what can be achieved in two years.

Toryglen PS was surrounded by high rise flats. The school is fighting a constant battle against vandalism and disaffected youth who constantly destroy outdoor developments. A recent thatched willow hut was destroyed after 7.5 hours of completion. I was impressed by the large greenhouse, constructed entirely of recycled plastic bottles. Windows along one corridor were painted out except for small ‘spy holes”. Bushes outside these windows had bird feeders and an endless number of birds used these feeders. Students had binoculars and bird identification charts and were able to observe the birds in their natural environment without disturbing them. The Head Teacher is doing a wonderful job in a challenging environment.

More Pictures

Tomorrow I'm off to visit two more schools, including one school with 40 students who are deaf and blind. The outdoor areas are really special places for these students. Mark will be taking me along to what I'm sure will be more inspirational Glasgow school.

Glasgow

2010-05-24T05:44:00.000+08:00

Drove up to London to pick up Mrs Cumming, then the long drive to Glasgow. After arriving we went into Glasgow for dinner. Glasgow is just full of historic buildings.Glasgow

I'm off to visit Glasgow schools over the next two days with Mark Irwin the Sustainable Development Officer with Glasgow City Council. I hope to see how the partnership between local schools and the council has enhanced the children's outdoor education experience. At Withers Primary in Australia there may be some practical application with our Maidens Reserve Habitat Project and Partnership with the City of Bunbury.

Thanks to all the Withers students who are following this Blog, and especially to Room 3 who I hear from often.

London

2010-05-23T21:57:00.000+08:00

I went up London to visit some famous sites.

Houses of Parliament
Big Ben
Tower Bridge
Tower of London
Nelson's Column
Trafalgar Square
River Thames
Memorial Column, Which I climbed up inside spiral stairs.
Westminster Abby
Buckingham Palace
10 Downing St

Cars have to pay a extra tax to travel in London, so most people travel on trains which in London are all underground.
See if you can match the pictures to their names.
More London pictures

Brighton Beach

2010-05-23T05:01:00.000+08:00

The first picture is a railway viaduct that was built in victorian times. The bottom two pictures are of Brighton Beach . I won't complain again about crowds at Backbeach again.

Windsor Castle and Eton College

2010-05-22T15:48:00.000+08:00

More Pictures

On the way back to Brighton from Coombs I visited Windsor Castle home of Queen Elizabeth II. The castle was amazing. The chapels and main rooms where the Queen hosts dinners was amazing and have to be seen to be believed.

The Coombes

2010-05-22T15:30:00.002+08:00

The Coombes Primary School (Reading)

Fabulous school. The Outdoor’s program was embedded throughout the school.

Behaviour
Students who were in trouble sat in the staff room. This didn’t appear to be a common practice but was accepted on the day necessity, however enabled teachers to be free. Support staff as in all other schools were on duty at lunch time. These staff then had a 30 minute break once the children returned to class.

Students played throughout the grounds at lunch time. There were two distinctive sites and the older and younger students had separate play areas. The Head Teacher who began the school was obviously a real visionary and the school has developed, over time, outstanding grounds and environmental program. Visitors are common, a group of Dutch student teachers ware visiting on the day I was there.

Paths were a real feature. Wood chips which were a very good environmentally friendly alternative to limestone paths abounded. Use of waste from the local government clean ups were beneficial to both agencies. Paths twisted and turned throughout the grounds. Children just loved running and exploring these. They really added to the area of the school, giving the appearance that the school was a great deal larger than was the case. There was even a path that was well hidden and went around the perimeter of the school. You felt as if you were in a hidden forest while on this path. Children utilized these paths and were more often than not out of the site of duty staff. This was no accident and was how they were designed. The Head Teach likened it to a garden, “You don’t want to see it all at once, you want to be lead to different areas”

There were countless areas classes could use for lesson outside. Numerous story circles, an unbelievable “enchanted” story chair, amphitheatre, sitting areas. Countless vegetable plots “allotments” as they are known here, which classes were free to use as they saw fit. Again fruit trees abounded, and were interspersed throughout the school rather than in a specific orchard. There was what appreared to be a large forest that included species from throughout the UK. Really gave the school depth. Wonderful areas to take children without having to go off site.

The school oval “field” was out of bounds at lunch times but with all the other activities on offer this was not an issue. There were lots of small rooms used as classrooms for small group instruction that were interspersed throughout the school. A tree house was a well used room. This wasn’t used for playing in during breaks but as a learning area during class times for small group instruction.

There was lots of inexpensive playground gear. Logs, concrete blocks, tyres filled with cement. There wasn’t soft fall under these areas. The A/Head Patrick Prichard explained children needed to learn their limitations, risk taking was a part of life and children soon learn what they can and can’t do.

Again as in other schools I have visited many children at lunchtime we off on paths or areas out of sight of duty staff (Teacher Assistants) children were trusted to behave and did. If something untoward occurred children would find the teachers. There was not a sense of all children had to be visible to the duty teacher. Little nooks and crannies were developed as play spaces rather than blocked off. A “Chill Out Area” was one such place where children who just wanted some quiet time could sit. A computer club operated daily by Carol the ITC teacher and this was full of students on line and having fun. There was no compulsion to be outdoors at break times.

The local town is adjacent to an army barracks. The barracks contributes to works at the school through the provision of labour and machinery as required.

The environmental direction of the school has been achieved over time, with the school’s board of governors’ fully behind the Head Teacher in the overall grounds development.

Paths. Use of willow to develop paths, this is grown on site to involve students and cut down costs. A geology trail existed with huge stone structures from all over the UK interspersed throughout the site. Many of the stones had rules, saying and the like carved in them. Literally written in stone.

Adventure Playground. Use of large logs just piled on the bitumen surface was really popular with students. Vegetation from dense undergrowth to open woodland was close to classrooms.
Several ponds had been dug into the grounds and were fenced off. These provided aquatic environments students could utilize for learning. Livestock were also part of the school environment with a few sheep including a lamb fenced of with portable fencing on a side of the oval. Days earlier the mother had died while giving birth. This provided an opportunity to learn about life, and death. Learning opportunist such as these were utilised as they came to hand. The staff appeared very adaptable and able to make the use of opportunities as they presented themselves. An amphitheatre was well hidden in the woodland, which looked capable of seating the entire school if required.

The Coombes School

2010-05-22T06:53:00.004+08:00

The Coombes School Visit 20 May (Reading)
More pictures at Coombes School Visit

Brighton Pier

2010-05-20T06:38:00.000+08:00

Carlton Hill Primary School ....Brighton

2010-05-20T06:34:00.003+08:00

Carlton Hill

Today was spent at Carlton Hill Primary in Brighton. The school has made excellent use of some fairly limited space. Willow features in this school as an inexpensive way of getting some interesting play areas for students. There was lots of activity in the school yard, studying plants and how they adapt. There was also extensive use of vegetable gardens in some garden beds that were previously unused. Specific students had the task of collecting compost from different areas of the school including the staff room. Known as Compost Doctors they collected, watered and distributed the finished product on the vegetable gardens.

A multinational is building on a site adjacent to the school and are injecting significant funds into a school grounds renewal project. Involvement across the school in the grounds development including students, parents, staff and community is a feature. Throughout the school student work displayed differing elements of learning that had occurred as pert of the outdoor learning.

South Downs

2010-05-19T14:51:00.001+08:00

Yesterdays afternoon walk in the South Downs near Brighton.

Moulsecoomb Primary School

2010-05-19T06:59:00.002+08:00

All todays pictures Moulsecoomb Primary

Moulsecoomb Primary School Brighton

Tuesday, 18 May 2010

Today was my first school visit. Having spent considerable time off site with Head Teacher Mr Charles Davis yesterday, I had the privilege of spending the day at the school. The school has really taken up the Outdoor Learning program in a big way. The school has a real holistic approach to learning with the Outdoors education practice at the school merely one element of their overall approach.

Parental involvement is seen as vital and is encouraged through the employment of a Community Officer. (0.6 FTE) Her role includes:

- Coordination of after school activities for students;

- Parent workshops;

- Grant submissions: to make this all possible.

Outdoors Areas

Lots of small areas have been utilized away from the hustle and bustle of the main playing area. Some staff were initially reluctant for this change as students wouldn’t always be able to be seen by duty teachers. Little alcoves of areas previously derelict have been put together often at little cost. The more quiet children had the opportunity to spend lunch in these quiet areas.

- Artist Hill Grass/wildflowers. Used to screen the main road.

- Fairy Tail Forest Story telling circle logs. Large table and story telling chair.

- Willow Dome Cubbies, also used as a source of willow for other projects.

- Pond Used as time out area when required

- Orchards Interspersed throughout the school. Used in cooking classes.

- Vegetable Gardens In courtyard, used in cooking classes, included chickens for eggs.

- Adventure Trail Paths Limestone paths to direct traffic.

- Slide

- Climbing Wall

- Iron Age Roundhouse Constructed by children.

- Artists Hill Totem Pole life cycle of frog & butterfly

- All Weather Soccer Pitch Roster for recess use, older students exclusive use at lunch time.

- Bridge In K/PP area

- Rounder’s Marked into oval in a similar vain to a running track.

- Maze Made from willow stalks.

- Cubbies ` Self seeded. Children make and use cubbies.

- Native Hedgerow Screen from main road.

- Geology Trail From stone all over the UK.

- Logs Seats, inexpensive and very popular.

Lunch time activities (clubs) are run by 2 teacher assistants and large numbers of students were involved. Another initiative is all children play together across the school. Yr 1-7. Some staff reluctance initially as children had separate play areas. It all seemed to work really well. There were also a number of indoor areas where children could congregate at lunch time. The ITC room, Library and Happy Club (an ITS room with play equipment for younger children.) These areas were manned by teacher assistants. Teachers do duty at recess but lunchtime there were only teacher assistants on duty. “Happy Club” assistant was also responsible for administering all first aid that occurred during break time.

Breakfast Club

Ran each morning children. All pay 50p and breakfasts are all completed before school starts. There were a number of parents assisting with the Breakfast Club.

Behaviour

Admin run rosters, week about to man a time out room, known as “On Call”. Whichever admin is on call handles all behaviour incidents. All what we would call “Buddy referrals”, are also handled by whoever is on-call. The on-call admin carries a phone and can be contacted at any time. Admin goes to classes for referrals. The on call room was also manned by a Teacher Assistant. This freed up admin to respond to referrals as they occurred without having to leave students unsupervised.

A separate exclusion room for more long term exclusions was also in operation. It was run in conjunction with the local high school and manned by a Teacher Assistant. Class teachers provided academic input; the assistant provided the pastoral care.

The behaviour strategies seemed to work as the students really wanted to be out and about, back in their classroom.

The overall feeling was of a school that children wanted to be at. Children were everywhere; many hidden from view behind walls, in gardens, in cubbies. I didn’t see any fights. 2 bells rang at the end of breaks and children were expected to be in class when the second bell sounded. No line up.

One key to the school’s success appears to be an active Student Council who are involved in all stages of projects. Student’s ideas, rather than “experts”, have driven the design. Another vital component is the number of government grants that are available to support the outdoors in schools.

Today’s visit has certainly inspired me.

Moulsecoomb Primary School

2010-05-19T05:49:00.001+08:00

Link to all Moulsecoomb Pictures

2010-05-17T14:25:00.001+08:00

I went for a walk to a village about a five minute drive from where I am staying.

2010-05-16T23:05:00.002+08:00

The Royal Pavilion in Brighton... George IV's holiday home, which is just down the road from where I'm staying.

Brighton

2010-05-16T22:28:00.003+08:00

Have just arrived in Brighton. This is where I'm staying for the next week.

The Trip Begins

2010-05-15T14:15:00.004+08:00

Well I'm off to a flying start. I'm now sitting at the airport waiting for take off to Singapore. I tried to take some pictures but some big security guards gave me looks that said "Put the camera away". I managed to get one quick picture though. Singapore in about 5 hours.

The countdown......

2010-05-07T20:26:00.000+08:00

I leave WA in one week and I have organised my International Driving Licence so I can drive in England, Scotland and Wales.They drive on the same side of the road over there but there is a lot more traffic than we have in Bunbury. I have also changed some Australian $'s into GBP so $50 is worth about 30 pound.

It will take about 19 hrs in the plane and I stop over in Singapore for a few hours. I will be landing at Heathrow Airport near London at around 7am which will be midnight in WA. On the plane I 'll get drinks and meals as well as be able to watch movies, so hopefully the trip over won't be too boring. At this stage it looks like being 12C maximum on the day I arrive....brrrrr!!!!

Blog Link Added to School PC's.

2010-05-05T19:30:00.001+08:00

Today a link to this Blog was added to all Withers Primary School computers. I'm hoping the students at Withers will follow my travels. Tomorrow I will begin showing the children how to keep up with what I'm doing.

School Matters Article

2010-05-04T15:34:00.004+08:00

This is the article that appeared in School Matters last year.

2010-05-03T22:51:00.002+08:00

Withers Primary School is located in the southern Bunbury suburb of Withers. Lush native gardens and a large grassed field are significant features of our grounds. Programs include Indonesian, music, learning support and enrichment. Students have the opportunity to participate in instrumental music, sports leadership and a variety of performing and visual arts programs. Values education includes Choose Respect and The Virtues Project. Emphasis is placed on developing a shared vision of core values. In collaboration with the City of Bunbury, Withers Primary School places a major emphasis on environmental education. The school is within walking distance of the Maidens Reserve and the school utilises this natural resource extensively. Student engagement in learning is enhanced through the use of modern information technology for teaching, learning and communication. Our literacy approach has an emphasis on both direct instruction and a holistic approach where language opportunities are embedded throughout all learning areas. We have an 'open door communication policy' which has enhanced positive parent-teacher rapport. The Parents and Citizens Association is extremely active with an enthusiastic School Council. Visit the school website.

2010-05-03T21:30:00.003+08:00

This article appeared in our local paper shortly after I was received Churchill Fellowship.

Planned Map of Travels

2010-05-03T13:28:00.003+08:00

This Map is a planned outline of the location of schools where I will be visiting. Click on it to expand it. Not all visits are indicated on this map. The plan is to begin in the south of England, travel to Scotland then onto Wales returning to undertake some follow up visits in the south of England.

2010-05-01T23:15:00.005+08:00

Last year I applied for and was successful in receiving a Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship to travel to the UK. This is a National award with 120 Australians selected in 2009. www.churchilltrust.com.au/

I will be visiting schools identified as being examples of excellence in Learning Outside the Classroom.

This program has been credited with improving student attitudes to learning, better behaviour and raised self esteem. After meeting with previous Churchill Fellowship recipients, I have been told that this should prove the best professional learning opportunity that I will ever undertake.

I will be visiting schools and attending conferences in England, Wales and Scotland. The first school I will be visiting is in Brighton on the south coast of England. Check out their website...www.moulsecoomb.brighton-hove.sch.uk/

Will keep you posted.

Stuart