Tag Archives: Sustainable Development

Enterprise in Early Learning and Childcare⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

ELCOne of the ambitions of Scotland CAN DO is “to achieve an education system with entrepreneurship and innovation at its core.” This ambition does not begin with secondary, or even primary schools – early learners can get involved too!

Scotland’s Enterprising Schools is a new resource available for educational practitioners to inspire enterprising and entrepreneurial learning across the curriculum.  The resource was developed in partnership with Education Scotland and the Scottish Government and was launched at the Scottish Learning Festival in September last year.  Key features include:

  • Practitioners have the opportunity to join the professional learning network where they can take part in discussions about enterprise education and collaborate with colleagues to share ideas and resources.
  • A professional reflection tool helps practitioners gauge where their establishment is on its enterprise journey and will support the self-evaluation process.
  • The resources and ideas highlighted will be very useful when curriculum planning and will help schools/early learning and childcare settings embed Building the Curriculum 4 and Developing the Young Workforce agendas as part of their improvement plans.

Any number of practitioners can join the professional learning community and members of the network will receive an “Enterprising Schools Proud Member” badge for use on your website.

Scotland’s Enterprising Schools was developed to encourage educational practitioners, from early years through and beyond senior phase, to develop a holistic approach to enterprise and entrepreneurial thinking. This is achieved by providing a platform to recognise settings for their work in this area.

Our first Early Years case study came from Ardnahoe Nursery School in Toryglen, Glasgow. The full case study is available on our website and highlights how the project came about, how it developed and all the skills the children learned along the way – click here!

This is just one example of enterprise in early learning and childcare and we are keen to hear from more settings about the great work taking place across Scotland. Are your children involved in exciting, enterprising activities? Then please contact Heather Hughes – (Head of Programme) who will be happy to discuss how you can get involved.

Need help getting started? Our Partner page is full of organisations willing to help you on your way to developing a CAN DO spirit, making learning more enterprising and entrepreneurial.

To keep in touch with Scotland’s Enterprising Schools, you can join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Global Goals and the World’s Largest Lesson⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

gg-logo-tileThe United Nations recently agreed a set of goals that aim to make our planet fair, healthy and sustainable by 2030.  A 17-point plan to end poverty, combat climate change and fight injustice and inequality. They are the biggest attempt in the history of the human race to make the world a better place. Resources available include: a guide, an animated introductory film and a set of lesson plans.

Community in Action in Castlemilk⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

Learners from a Castlemilk adult learning group, The Only Way is Up, celebrated the completion of the first SCQF level 4 accredited course based on Counting on a Greener Scotland (COGS)  at Whitelee Wind farm.   They are pictured with   Heather Reid who presented their certificates and WEA tutor Alison McLachlan.    Learners evaluated the pilot course resources and their  feedback will inform future provision.

Counting on a Greener Scotland
Left to right- Karen, Alison, Frannie, Heather, Madge, Marie, Anna and Annmarie. Maggie, Anne and Mary were unable to attend the ceremony

The Only Way is Up  is supported by the WEA, Ardenglen Housing Association, Clyde College and South Area Literacies Partnership. Education Scotland funded the development and design of the original numeracy educational  pack Counting on a Greener Scotland  which was developed by WEA with Heather Reid. Counting on a Greener Scotland  focuses on weather, climate change and energy.

Pass it on Week⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

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How your school can get involved in Scotland’s most exciting environmental week

Get donating, swapping, sharing and repairing for Pass it on Week

Pass it on Week is Scotland’s annual week for helping the planet by keeping items in use for as long as possible – by passing things we no longer use on to someone else.

Why should my school get involved?

Extending the life of products has a massive environmental benefit, so Pass it on Week is a great opportunity to educate children about climate change in a really practical way by looking at the things we own and don’t use, thinking about the impact making things have on the planet and taking action to get the greatest possible use out of things.

What sort of things can I do?

You can do all kinds of activities for Pass it on Week:

  • Hold a swap shop with the pupils. This could be for books, DVDs, computer games, toys or clothes.
  • Hold a swap shop aimed at parents, for passing on or swapping school uniforms that children have grown out of, or items like football boots and other sports equipment.
  • Hold a charity donation – bring in the social benefits of passing things by collecting for a local charity.
  • Hold a second hand sale and raise money – for the school or another good cause.
  • Do basic repair sessions, such as showing children how to sew a button back on a piece of clothing.

What resources are available?

Get ideas – Download our Pass it on Week toolkit for ideas of what kind of event you could put on.

Plan your event – Download our ‘how-to’ guides for more info on planning a repair café, a swish, a table top/car boot sale, an upcycling workshop, a give box or a lending library.

Promote your event – We have a range of posters, including empty belly posters, general PIOW posters, ‘Donations Welcome’ posters for collections, specific posters for those holding either swap shops, repair sessions, a swish or upcycling workshops and web banners and email footer. Download them from our resources page (links in the right hand corner under ‘Related Items’).

Register you event online

You can register your event on the Pass it on Week website and let everyone know what you’re doing. We can also shout about it for you then – our national call to action will be to go to the website and find out what’s happening in your local area. Even if your event is not open to the general public, it’s still good to register it so local media can see what schools are doing in the area – you might get in the paper! Register your event in our online events listing.

Contact

If you’ve got any questions, please contact Miriam Adcock: Miriam.adcock@zerowastescotland.org.uk

Hands up for LfS nominations!⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

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Croftcroighn Primary School won the Learning for Sustainability (LfS) award at last year’s Scottish Education Awards. In this guest blog post, the Glasgow school share their story and encourage others to apply for this year’s award:

“We were delighted to win the Learning for Sustainability award at last year’s Scottish Education Awards.

We first decided to apply for the award to gain recognition for the excellent practice in Learning for Sustainability we feel we have established, not only in Croftcroighn School itself but across our wider campus and with various other partners.

We reflected upon Glasgow’s Growing Good Citizens diagram which provided us with a framework to work within and used the Reflection Tool: A whole school journey towards Learning for Sustainability to track and monitor our progress.

As a school we have undertaken a lot of work across many areas of Learning for Sustainability, this has included our extensive International Education programme We have gained our full International Schools Award from the British Council and received our plaque and flag. We have hosted many International visitors to the school from Namibia, Sweden, Dubai, Holland and Japan. We are currently involved in the Erasmus Plus project and have a social enterprise link with Malawi, working alongside a local secondary school.

We also have a thriving eco-committee in the school, which pupils, parents and the wider school croftcroighncommunity are involved in. We are currently working towards permanent green flag status.

Last session we were awarded a grant from Education Scotland which allowed us to undertake a whole school Food for Thought Project. This enabled us to raise awareness around the importance of healthy eating with both parents and pupils as well as developing a range of life skills. This has continued this session through the Love Food Hate Waste initiative we are involved in.

Another of our recent developments was to look at effectively taking our learning outdoors to develop pupil’s skills and understanding across the curriculum. This initiative was fully embraced by all staff and pupils and it now firmly embedded within the school and the wider campus as a whole. This included the development of a whole campus orchard.

It is important that our pupils learning takes place in a variety of contexts to make it meaningful for them and to develop their life skills, self-confidence and communication. On reflection many of the different initiatives we are involved in under Learning for Sustainability allows this to happen in a variety of ways and we were extremely proud to be shortlisted for the award. The judge’s visit was a very positive experience and they were keen to hear about all the work that was going on within the school.

A number of pupils represented the school at the award ceremony and celebration which was a wonderful experience for them and one which they thoroughly enjoyed. ”

SEA2016There is still time to nominate in the LfS category for this year’s Scottish Education Awards. Nominations must be submitted by 12pm on Monday 15th February.

Thank you to Clare Fitzpatrick and Margaret McFadden from Croftcroighn School for sharing their story.

Come and meet the experts and find out about air pollution!⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

Free professional learning workshops available for practitioners at Hillpark Secondary School, Glasgow on 25th November 4 – 6pm.

Come along and learn about air pollution, how to use data about air quality in your classes and finding indicator species such as lichen in your local area!

Sign up using our simple survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AirQualityCPD

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Responding to the refugee crisis in the classroom⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

A common refrain over the weekend of the clocks going back is that we can have “an extra hour in our bed.” As we prepare for the transition from autumn to winter, pictures emerging from Associated Press’ twitter feed show drone photography of a continuing stream of refugees heading through the Balkan countryside. For them, just one hour in their own bed in the face of dropping temperatures and increasingly complex arrangements for finding sanctuary, is a forlorn hope.

Meanwhile, the UNHCRC are warning of an increasing polarisation in the views of Europeans in their response to the refugee crisis. The head of the EU, Jean-Claude Juncker, has spoken out on the distinct possibility of refugees “freezing to death”.

GLP-S editMany educators will already have found ways of engaging pupils with the refugee crisis (See previous post on IDEAS network resources). For others, however there may not yet have been the time or opportunity.

This Thursday, SCOTDEC is offering a practical session aiming to provide ideas, methodologies and resources for teachers to explore the refugee crisis . This session will be co-delivered with the British Red Cross. You can sign up here.

Christian Aid have also produced an assembly resource Christian_Aid_Logo_svgwith speaker notes and accompanying PowerPoint that may provide a helpful way in to discussing the issue as a whole class/ school. You can access the resources here.

Aiming for the Global Goals⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

St Eunan's food bankA number of schools have started learning about the newly agreed Global Goals for Sustainable Development. Scotland was one of the first nations in the world to sign up to the Global Goals, building on the Scottish Government’s existing commitment to the learning for sustainability agenda.

One of the key commitments on education in Global goal 4.7 is that our children and young people are fully involved in building a more sustainable and equitable future. It states that by 2030 we must “ensure all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including among others through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.”

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One school in West Dunbartonshire has stolen a march on the 2030 deadline and is already out tackling Global Goal #2 – No Hunger. You can read more about St Eunan’s Primary 7’s learning on food justice and food inequality in their class blog.

Well done to all involved and good luck with your ongoing activities at West Dunbartonshire Community Food Share. If any other classes are blogging about the Global Goals or any other LfS activities, please email Anthony.Hutcheson@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk  or let us know on Twitter @EdScotLfS .

Click here for a short animation, created by Sir Ken Robinson, on the 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development.

 

New videos for Science⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

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The National STEM Centre have just added six great film clips to the eLibrary, covering areas of the curriculum such as electricity generation, electromagnetism and the physics of car crashes.

The film clips in this collection were produced by Pumpkin Interactive, whose aim is to provide case studies of real life applications to illustrate some of the more complex scientific concepts and theories. Themes covered include: forces and motion, waves and imaging and electricity generation, transmission and distribution

Get Energised⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

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National Museums Scotland

FREE Secondary Schools Renewable Energy Programme

Get Energised Challenge Days

Level: National Qualifications 4-5 Physics

Pupil numbers: Pupils work in teams of four, competing against teams from other schools. Maximum 20 pupils (five teams) from each school at each Challenge Day.

Dates available: _SYP5656

National Museum of Rural Life (East Kilbride)

Wed 28, Thu 29 & Fri 30 Oct 2015

National Museum of Scotland (Edinburgh)

Mon 9 & Tue 10 Nov 2015

Inspire your pupils to discover more about the renewable energy industry. Pupils will conduct experiments, meet industry experts and work cooperatively to solve problems. The day includes solar, wind, hydro and marine power challenges and each Challenge Day concludes with a keynote speaker from the industry. One team at each Challenge Day will win a prize for themselves and their school.

Science Investigation Days

Level: S1–2 pupils Pupil numbers: National Museum of Scotland 50 pupils; National Museum of Rural Life 40 pupils

Dates available:

National Museum of Rural Life (East Kilbride)

Fri 23 & Mon 26 Oct 2015, Mon 21 & Tue 22 Mar 2016, Thu 14 & Fri 15 Apr 2016

National Museum of Scotland (Edinburgh)

Wed 11 Nov 2015, Mon 1 & Tue 2 Feb 2016, Mon 9 & Tue 10 May 2016

 

Pupils will discover more about renewable energy in Scotland through a series of hands-on, group-work activities. The day will provide an introduction to the range of renewable energies in Scotland, followed by the chance for pupils to build their own hydro turbine, and engineer a wave technology model.

 

To book, complete our online booking enquiry form: www.nms.ac.uk/schoolbooking

You can also contact us on schools@nms.ac.uk

Get Energised is made possible by the generous support of the ScottishPower Foundation. Find out more online: www.nms.ac.uk/getenergised

 

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