- April 28th, 2010
Well done Grange Campus and East Ayrshire!
- rreed
- Comments: 1 Comment
“East Ayrshire Council announces that hundreds of children will benefit from a cash boost to their school to get them learning outdoors – thanks to the initiative of one of their teachers.
Grange Campus has been awarded a grant of £55,570 from the Climate Change Fund to establish an “outdoor classroom”, thanks to a successful bid by Morag Ferguson. Mrs Ferguson is a “transition teacher” in science, working with pupils from Grange, Annanhill, Park School and Woodstock School. And she is now forging ahead with a three- point plan for the Power Off and Learn Outdoors (POLO) project.”
Congratulations Morag, good work!
- April 15th, 2010
Regional Events: dates and venues
- csmith
- Comments: none
The following dates and venues have been agreed for the forthcoming regional events:
13 May – Aberdeen
20 May – Dunfermline
26 May – Edinburgh
03 June – Troon
08 June – Renfrew
15 June – Inverness
Local authority representation has been invited via a letter to Directors of Education. National partner organisations have also received invitations to attend events as partner delegates.
The aim of each event is to raise the profile of the guidance document “Curriculum for Excellence through Outdoor Learning”, the new online resource, and to help practitioners and managers explore what this will mean for them.
Events will include a keynote speech, discussion groups and workshops and will offer opportunities for individuals and partners to network.Please be advised that we can not offer individual places directly. If you would like to attend one of the events please make your interest known to your local authority in the first instance.
- March 22nd, 2010
Information on regional events in May and June
- rreed
- Comments: 5 Comments »
Event enquiries are arriving thick and fast
We have received a number of enquiries about the forthcoming regional events planned for May and June. At the moment we are in the process of planning the events and hope to have dates and venues pinned down very shortly. As soon as we have further details we will post them here.
Each of the Local Authorities will be invited to nominate a number of staff to attend. It is hoped that there will be a healthy mix of practitioners from a variety of backgrounds, in addition to Local Authority managers responsible for quality improvement.
If you would like to attend one of the events, please keep an eye on the blog for further details of dates and venues. It might be beneficial to register your interest with your head of establishment in advance.
It is extremely encouraging to receive so many enquiries. Rest assured that we will keep you up to date with developments. Thanks again for your interest!
- March 16th, 2010
LTS appoints two Outdoor Learning Development Officers
- rreed
- Comments: 6 Comments »
LTS are delighted to announce the appointment of Chalmers Smith and Ryan Reed as outdoor learning Development Officers (DOs) from 1st April 2010 for a period of 12 months.
Chalmers Smith, who has been seconded to LTS from Midlothian for the past six months as the Outdoor Learning Framework DO, will continue on the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence through Outdoor Learning by leading the development of support for staff. Alongside Ryan, he will also be organising six regional events planned throughout Scotland for May and June 2010.
Ryan Reed has been working as the Outdoor Learning Online Resource DO for the past 4 months. Ryan will continue development in this area and will work alongside Chalmers to organise the six regional events. Ryan will also lead in developing a national network for outdoor learning.
The development of these two posts demonstrates the ongoing commitment to the programme of work in outdoor learning by LTS and the ongoing support for outdoor learning from the Scottish Government.
- February 9th, 2010
Outdoor Learning Glow site to be redeveloped.
- rreed
- Comments: none
The Outdoor Learning Glow site is currently undergoing major reconstruction.
It is hoped that the development of the Outdoor Learning Online Resource and the publishing of the forthcoming “Curriculum for Excellence through Outdoor Learning” document will provide the ideal platform to relaunch the Glow site and to encourage new and existing users to contribute and discuss their experiences of outdoor learning.
In the meantime you may find that your user details wont allow you access. Don’t worry, this is just to allow for the changes being made and any contributions you have made will be retained. If you want to comment on this development or make suggestions please feel free to post a comment, or email r.reed@LTScotland.org.
- January 27th, 2010
The Outdoor Learning Framework has been renamed.
- rreed
- Comments: 1 Comment
The Outdoor Learning Framework has become ‘Curriculum for Excellence through Outdoor Learning’.
It has been decided that this important forthcoming document should be renamed. This will give the document strong, clear and explicit links to the curriculum.
We feel that this is a positive development which adds clarity and builds on the growing standing of outdoor learning as a key context for delivering Curriculum for Excellence.
- January 11th, 2010
Curriculum for Excellence through Outdoor Learning
- csmith
- Comments: none
The Curriculum for Excellence through Outdoor Learning document (previously known as Outdoor Learning Framework document) will be published in the Spring of 2010. This work was directed by the Outdoor Learning Strategic Advisory Group (OLSAG) set up by the Scottish Government in August 2008. The document will contain the following:
- a Ministerial Foreword, Introduction and Contents
- a Vision and Rationale
- Outdoor Learning within Curriculum for Excellence
- Sections on progressive experiences, planning, learning and teaching outdoors, residential experiences etc.
- Health and Safety considerations
- Implementation
The guidance documentwill also be at the online resource which will also go live in Spring 2010. It has been written to enable all practitioners to offer more outdoor learning opportunities to children and young people, across all levels, in a progressive way and to maximise use of the outdoors as a learning context.
If you wish to comment on any sections of the Framework please email outdoorlearning@LTScotland.org.uk
- January 11th, 2010
Minister to launch guidance document
- rreed
- Comments: 7 Comments »
Minister for Skills and Lifelong Learning, Keith Brown MSP, is to launch Curriculum for Excellence through Outdoor Learning
This signals a significant strengthening of the position of outdoor learning as a key context for the delivery of Curriculum for Excellence. The new guidance document will provide a national vision and rationale for outdoor learning and will include sections on planning, Curriculum for Excellence, implementation, and evaluation of outdoor learning.
The video foreword by the Minister, and of course the guidance document itself, will be available at the Outdoor Learning online resource which will go live in Spring of 2010. The guidance will also be distributed nationally in document form.
After the launch of the guidance in the Spring there will be a range of events in 2010 which will allow practitioners from all over Scotland to contribute to the national conversation on outdoor learning and to share practice.
More details of the guidnace document, national events and the online resource will be posted soon.
- January 8th, 2010
Health and Safety Guidance
- rreed
- Comments: none
Learning and Teaching Scotland have engaged Adventure Activity Associates Ltd to assist with the creation of clear and accessable Health and Safety advice and guidance.
Over the next three months Adventure Activity Associates will:
· use the current Scottish Government document on Health and Safety for Educational Excursions (HSEE) to produce more concise, manageable and accessible online guidance
· produce guidance for inclusion in the Outdoor Learning Framework which reflects the positive aspects of risk as well as its proper management.
· produce supporting material for website publication
· conduct a study on the feasibility and desirability of developing an ‘all Scotland agreement’ on health and safety requirements for educational excursions, with recommendations for next steps
It is important to the project’s success that as wide a range of stakeholders as possible are aware that the work is under way.
This is an exciting project intended to increase opportunities for access to outdoor learning by young people.
If you would like to discuss any aspect of the project please contact
Bob Barton – Adventure Activity Associates
Iain Peter – Adventure Activity Associates info@adventureactivityassociates.co.uk
- December 18th, 2009
Outdoor Learning Online Resource
- rreed
- Comments: none
The Outdoor Learning team at Learning and Teaching Scotland are currently developing the new Outdoor Learning Online Resource for practitioners.
The purpose of the project is to create an Online Resource to support education practitioners in their delivery of Curriculum for Excellence through outdoor learning. The website will promote outdoor learning across a broad spectrum of users, activities and contexts and will deliver a range of resources to the education community that are easy and simple to access. The resources provided as part of the website are aimed at improving learning outcomes for all young people in Scotland.
To support the work of practitioners we are looking to develop support in the form of case studies. We aim to illustrate the valuable and innovative ways that outdoor learning can deliver educational outcomes for children and young people. We hope that you will take this opportunity to share your experiences of using the outdoors to deliver Curriculum for Excellence, and inspire and assist others to take learning outdoors.
If you use the outdoors to deliver Curriculum for Excellence and would like to make a contribution then please contact the outdoor learning team to find out how we can help.
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