AALA and all that.. June 9, 2007
Posted by Bill in : AALA, Coasteering, Outdoor Learning , trackback
During a D of E expedition this week with Dunbar Grammar I had a visit from our AALA inspector. It is always good to talk to him and it was reassuring to hear him point out that we need to get more adventure back in to outdoor education in East Lothian, The licence covers what East Lothian Outdoor Education staff deliver (to under 18 year olds) within East Lothian and not what schools do themselves (schools and colleges are exempt). Schools are advised only to “self assess” and follow any published guidelines relevant to that area.
When I first came to East Lothian nearly all the schools I was allocated were using their time to do problem solving or orienteering in the school grounds (Have to admit I was very disappointed!. Two Years on with the support of fantastic and enthusiastic staff within the schools - without which OE in East Lothian would not exist, they are nearly all using their allocations to get out for more adventurous days and using the “come and try it” days for orienteering. I still have one or two who I hope to convince this year to get out and about and the value and benefits of pupils having a quality outdoor experience rather than a “sausage factory big numbers” style experience. So the work continues.
Good new that I had time to clarify the opportunity and procedure for how to get coasteering on our licence. An exiting sea level traverse/coastline experience, which is a resource that East Lothian has lots of! Working in partnership with MOBEX to develop this it should be an activity we can offer soon. Hope to test it out on a group later this month and will post some more information soon.
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