About
I am employed as an Outdoor Education Teacher with the East Lothian Council Outdoor Education Service. I am currently seconded to Corporate Health, Safety and Development Team as an Employee Development Advisor working on Leadership and Management and employee engagement areas. I will be actively seeking opportunities to embed experiential and outdoor learning in to these areas.
I intend to use the blog to give readers an insight into my current role and that of Outdoor Education Teacher in East Lothian and illustrate what a member of the East Lothian Community may experience through contact with the East Lothian Outdoor Education Service and Employee Development. Recently work on Organisational Learning for a Masters programme has led to posts on Outdoor Management Development and Organisational Learning.
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Hi Bill,
I work for Enquire, the Scottish advice service for additional support for learning. I stumbled across your blog, particularly the recent post about forest schools.
I’d be interested to speak to you about your experiences of outdoor education with pupils with addtional support needs. This might be within special schools or mainstream pupils who get extra support.
I’m planning our conference for next february, (28th Feb 2008 in Glasgow) and i’m looking for workshop hosts. The theme for the conference is ‘A curriculum for Excellence’ and how this will affect young people with additional support needs. It seems that there will be both opportunities and challenges with A Curriculum for Excellence. I’d like to have a rounded programme to the day and your thoughts on outdoor education seem particularly interesting.
I have to admit to having an outdoor ed bias, i used to work with the duke of edinburgh’s award here in edinburgh (with Peter Wright) and i also volunteer with the John Muir Trust.
Please drop me an email or call me on 0131 222 2422 to discuss your work.
thanks in advance
Gavin Crosby - gcrosby@childreninscotland.org.uk
Hi Bill
Great blog site!
My name is Peter Braidwood and I have been given the task of promoting the Scottish Outdoor Access Code education workshops on behalf of the Institute for Outdoor Learning (Scotland) and Scottish National Heritage. My formal title is Access Education Officer, and I have a time frame between now and the end of February to deliver approximately 12 half day workshops to outdoor instructors about the Code and how to integrate its key aspects into activities they lead. The aim is for instructors to then be better equipped with knowledge and supporting materials to promote the Code to their clients.
I have set up the venues and am now organising the content of the half day workshops. However, I am aware that there is a link that can be made with some of your networks . I would therefore appreciate an opportunity to have a chat with you about possible options for the promotion of the workshop initiative within your site.
Many thanks
Peter
Hi Bill,
I came across your blog through Jennifer Water’s e-mail about the Saltoun Forest School group and found it really interesting and informative.
I used to work in East Lothian and do a lot of outdoor education activities with young people and have spent many a day in the company of Alasdair Seagroatt- always entertaining! Say Hi from me next time you see him.
I’ve just completed my Forest School Leader training so it was great to see the photos and read about the East Lothian group.
thanks
Iain
Bill’s Outdoor Learning Page,
I work for a PR/Marketing Consultancy whose clients; Nike, Vango, Teva and SPOT (a Satellite Messenger) would be interested in being featured on your site.
Can i have a direct email to further this inquest?
Thanks for your time,
Andrew
Andrew, My direct email is william.stephen@virgin.net
hi bill
well done on your blog
i never knew this existed until my mate , who does the hills and glens
asked me if i knew you!
looking forward to the next cpd , is there ay other groups he could look at or join to give him info on outdoor activities? he does not work for ELC..
cheers
reverse J
Hi Bill
It was really good to get to work on the gardens of the Innerwick Visitor Centre and to meet with so many enthusiastic people.
looking foreword to further projects - an allotment in the grounds of the centre would provide the space and the potential to engage visitors and the local community in creative eco theories and activities.
I agree Susie, perhaps we can put together a plan for how the allotment would operate on a community basis. It certainly has huge potential
Hi Bill
I’m an ‘educational planning’ specialist working with teachers, students and architects to create new learning environments.
I have been presenting at NCSL and BCSE workshops on school planning and design and continue to be somewhat dismayed at the lack of interest in outdoor learning.
I heard on one of my BCSE ‘roadshows’ in Fife that there is a primary school teacher who has set up her own school which is based pretty much completely on outdoor learning. Parents can take their children there for a day to experience this.
The anecdote suggests that the teacher left the classroom doors open to see where students spent most of their time, and behold they wanted to spend as much as 80% of it outdoors, regardless of the weather.
Can you advise who this teacher might be and where the school can be located?
My three research associates have just prepared a first draft of a policy paper to see if we can change attitudes of the Victorian Government (sic) in Australia to the funding of landscaping in schools.
We have only just discovered your website and wonder if you could perhaps review our ‘research’ paper as well?
Thanks for the information Ken, I have been looking at your site and all the amazing projects. Will try to get in to some of the reading soon. I’m not sure who this refers to (teacher in Fife) however I will endeavour to find out and get back to you soon with some information or links.
I am attending an Active Outdooors Network next week and will ask around.
I would love to review your research paper and can try and distribute to a wider audience here?
Hello Bill and Kenn
You are looking for the “Secret Garden” in Fife which is run by Cathy Bache. I think contact can be made via her website. She is based at Letham:
http://www.secretgardenoutdoor-nursery.co.uk/
If you have no luck, let me know - I do have her e-mail address but don’t wish to post this publically.
Mindstretchers in Perthshire have 2 nature kindergartens as well. They have open days and can be contacted via http://www.mindstretchers.co.uk
Information about the Swedish “Rain or Shine” outdoor schools can be downloaded for free from the resources section of my website http://www.creativestarlearning.co.uk
Kenn - have you been in touch with Grounds for Learning, the Scottish school grounds charity? I would strongly urge you todo so as I think you could really help each other. The manager is Alastair Seaman.
Finally I would be very interested in your research. I’ve just written an outdoor learning literature review for Scottish Natural Heritage and another similar paper for the Centre for Confidence and Wellbeing - so I have LOADS of interesting articles and snipets linked to research, about the need for children to be outdoors, especially in natural spaces.
Next - are you familiar with Merrylee School Glasgow - their new school grounds are going to be landscaped “naturally” and I think this maybe part of a research project.
Hope all this helps!
Best wishes
Juliet
Hi Bill. I came across your blog when searching for somewhere to go bouldering in East Lothian. I live in Port Seton and go out to Ratho once a week but want to get a bit stronger. Can you (or anyone else!) suggest somewhere nearby? Hope you can help.
John
Thanks everyone for this input. I’m a limited blogger as I have a view that it’s sustainability is limited unless we meet face to face, which we will have to organise in time.
I think this outdoor learning is a doctoral project(s?) for someone - it is becoming more complex from a policy perspective to seek funding for school grounds developments.
I have five doctoral students working on learning environments and an association with Universitas 21 which includes Melbourne University, Nottingham and Birmingham and some others.
Watch these spaces.
RE : John Hunter - Bouldering
Traprain Law is the main crag within EL, but not ideal for bouldering, but have seen many a brave solo!
There are some great boulders at North Berwick beach and also at Gullane. NB Law has also some great wee boulder problems on the way to the summit and have taken many a group there and is easily protected.
Hi Bill
Short notice I know, but thought you might be interested in a gathering at Barns Ness next week (Thurs 30 April 2009) to look at the potential for taking groups there and exploring the rocks, landscape, human stories linked to natural resources and climate change and much more! Organised by the Scottish Earth Science Education Forum as part of our Earth Science Outdoors project. More details at http://www.sesef.org.uk or get in touch - angus.miller@ed.ac.uk 0131 555 5488.