New resource available on the FEI website
Subscribe by email!
Subscribe to get a daily email with a summary of our new posts. No news, no email!
FREE Course: exploring the learning possibilities of a place near you
FREE: exploring the learning possibilities of a place near you (East Scotland)
Building on Education Scotland’s successful ’3-18 Places Project’, this FREE half day event will prepare you to build the curriculum around the possibilities of an outdoor place near your school. We aim to give you an inspiring and enjoyable day that will open your eyes to the many possibilities of teaching outdoors in a local space, and leave you with practical ideas for how to get started.
Venue
Apri. 15th 2013 1:30pm – 5:30pm
Hermitage of Braid, Edinburgh. EH10, UK
THIS EVENT WILL BE OUTDOORS SO PLEASE CHECK THE WEATHER FORECAST AND DRESS APPROPRIATELY.
Date
15 April 2013
Click On this link to Grounds for Learning website for more info http://www.ltl.org.uk/
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Funding opportunity for schools, nursery and early years providers
The Central Scotland Green Network (CSGN) Learning Outdoors Fund 2012 was launched in September. The fund is available to all educational establishments within the CSGN area to help them improve their grounds and local greenspaces to enable more children to participate in learning outdoors and natural play.
http://www.centralscotlandgreennetwork.org/Latest-News/launching-soon-learning-outdoors-fund.html?dm_i=LJV,YM4F,5IOKFJ,2W9M3,1
Forest School May Gathering
Great chance to meet people involved in forest school and nature play and nurture at a ‘Gathering’ on 18th May. The day is designed to add skills to your ‘toolbag’. See enclosed for details
Adding to toolkit invite May 18th
Also Read an account of overcoming miserable weather for a productive forest school session from Lindy Linn
http://edubuzz.org/humbie/2012/05/14/head-teachers-blog-14th-may/comment-page-1/#comment-11996
John Muir Award & Curriculum for Excellence
Great resource from John Muir Trust
http://www.jmt.org/assets/john%20muir%20award/downloads/jmt_cfe_final-1.pdf
Steven Wray
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
News update
Juliet Robertson provided this email update and I thought it was well worth reproducing here as it is packed with lots of useful info.
Regards
Steven Wray
Hello Everyone
Outdoor learning continues to be “in”. Here’s some up-dates…
1) Consultation about developing a safety system for Adventure Activities in Scotland. See info below for weblinks, etc. Responses can be submitted until 30th March.
2) Booking is now open for the 7th European Forest Pedagogics Congress to be held in Dunkeld, Scotland 2-5th October 2012
3) Outdoor Learning Resource Packs available to pre-order from the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom
4) GrowFORTH local food summit 25th Feb – hosted by Low Carbon Stirling. See attachments as well as blurb below.
5) SEED Survey for UNESCO decade of Education for Sustainable Development.
6) Photos to show how water works from the James Hutton Institute – see attachment as well as blurb below. It’s a competition.
Ultra-quick snippets…
Mission Explore Food – This upbeat series of books from the Geography Collective are looking to crowd source their next book about food. The website and video clip are well worth a look and donations can be made from £1 to £1000. Please share and support this cause. http://www.pleasefund.us/projects/missionexplore-food
Outdoor Learning Past & Present – by Rosaleen Joyce. This book has just been published and is a good account of the perceptions and practice around outdoor play and learning – mostly in the Early Years. Best of all is a chapter about Gosta Frohm and the Swedish Skogsmulle movement that culminated in the opening of over 200 “Rain or Shine” outdoor nurseries and primary schools in Sweden.
There are some new blogs on the go which have an outdoor learning/play focus…
Jan White Natural Play – Jan is an outdoor play consultant specialising in the Early Years especially 0-3 age group. Lots of useful articles and information.
Play Learning Life – Julie Mountain who works for Learning through Landscapes writes this
Find Us Outside – is a blog by P7 teacher, Judy Duncan who works in an Aberdeen City School.
Exploring the Outdoor Classroom – is an Early Years blog by Kirsten, a Californian teacher about her demonstration outdoor EY centre
Karin’s Blog – Work in the Community – from Karin Chipulina, artist and Forest School practitioner
Finally, congratulations to Moray Wildlife Watch – for the second year running has been recognised as one of the best groups in the UK . Fantastic news!
http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/moray-wildlife-group-one-of-the-best-in-the-uk/
Best wishes
Juliet
Creative STAR Learning Company
12 Esslemont Drive
Inverurie
Aberdeenshire
AB51 3UP
Tel: 07802 800167
E-mail: info@creativestarlearning.co.uk
Visit the Creative STAR website for downloadable resources and to book an outdoor learning course.
Butterdean Woods video
It was a lovely sunny Friday morning for this Forest Schools event – have a look to see the activities that were on offer…
Celebration time – 28th October 2011
Support from the Start - East & Midlothian’s Equally Well test site has supported the development of forest school and nature play and nurture over the last two years. Staff and volunteers have been trained through different levels of training, and equipment has been purchased. Lots of children have had time in the woodlands of East Lothian as part of their learning at school or nursery.
Its time to celebrate the hard work of everybody that has been involved, and to tell the stories of its impact on children.
Sanderson’s Wynd have kindly agreed to host a celebration on Friday 28th October – a programme is being developed for circulation at the start of the new term – but put this date in your diary.
If you have been involved if forest school or nature play in East or Midlothian and want to tell your story then you can do that at this event. I am very keen to get people to display children’s work connected to forest school, and to hear from teachers / rangers and volunteers if their are particular stories abut the impact of a forest school.
For more information – contact myself or Tina Misselbrook
Regards
Steven Wray
Posted in Uncategorized
1 Comment
Ticks
NEWS RELEASE – 14th March 2011
RAY MEARS LEADS TICK BITE PREVENTION WEEK
Bushcraft and Survival expert Ray Mears has joined the fight against Lyme disease by lending his support to tick-borne disease charity BADA-UK (Borreliosis and Associated Diseases Awareness-UK).
Tick Bite Prevention Week, which runs from 11-17th April 2011, is an annual programme which helps promote awareness of tick-borne diseases and effective tick bite prevention for at-risk groups.
According to the Health Protection Agency, up to 3,000 people contract Lyme disease (Borreliosis) from the bite of an infected tick each year in the UK. As a victim of Lyme disease himself, Ray understands the importance of being aware of ticks and the diseases they carry, and of the preventative measures that can be taken to help prevent ticks from biting people and pets.
“I feel that there is not enough awareness of Lyme disease in this country, given the fact that in rare cases it may become chronic”, Ray said.
A dedicated website has been launched offering advice on what to do if bitter and how to stay protected in the warmer months at www.tickbitepreventionweek.org.
Primary schools and youth groups are being invited to take part in Tick Bite Prevention Week with a range of material which are available to download to help schools highlight the dangers of tick bites to pupils in a fun and engaging way. These include:
• Ray Mears’ ‘Top Tick Survival Tips’ on how to stay safe outdoors in the warmer months,
• child-friendly viral presentation, complete with gruesome images of ticks and scary screams,
• fact sheets,
• activity sheets,
• information leaflets.
The charity is also producing a free book for schools: “Jack, Scruffy and the ticks” teaches children what ticks are, where they are likely to be found and what should be done if someone is bitten. It also shows them how to protect their pets against ticks.
Schools can also win £250 in gardening vouchers, towards the creation of a wildlife garden, by entering our poster design competition. The winning design will feature on the Tick Bite Prevention Week awareness poster.
Further details and how to get involved can be found at www.tickbitepreventionweek.org
Date for Forest School Summer Gathering
The votes are in and Friday 3rd June has been chosen as the preferred date for our Summer Evening gathering. So put the date in your diaries. Times, location and activities coming soon – Watch this space!
If you are interested in attending, and are not already not the email contact list for Forest Schools, please contact Tina Misselbrook at Sanderson’s Wynd Primary School.
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment