Dear NNOL member
A quick update from the steering group. We had a very productive meeting with the Scottish Government Education Recovery Group – a range of Scottish Government civil servants from Learning for Sustainability, Early Years and Childcare, Education Scotland and ENFOR. We also had two NNOL representatives, a Highland headteacher, early years specialists, landscape architect (specialising in school grounds), SAPOE representative and Outdoor Learning Academic from Edinburgh.
The meeting was productive, with a few summary areas to
relay to you:
- The Education Recovery
Group has 12 workstreams, and it was suggested that outdoor learning and
outdoor spaces should be embedded and part of all of them. Strategically
we have agreed to focus initially on a few including Curriculum and
Assessment; Learners from disadvantaged backgrounds Pastoral support.
- There was good
representation made that this was about supporting our teachers and
educators, equipping, resourcing and supporting them to take learning
outside, as not all are comfortable outdoors. A suggestion was made of
furloughed outdoor staff doing some volunteering to coach and support
staff, with the benefit to the outdoor staff of building great
relationships with schools for the future. Teacher and educator engagement
and confidence is key to the success.
- We also suggested that
the existing ideas for curricular led outdoor learning be further
organised, with many NNOL members having worked hard to map learning ideas
against CfE. This is to be a rapid piece of work to put in place,
- Schools, early years and
childcare need advice on some very specific things, including how to make
best use of outdoor spaces (including concrete) which NNOL members and
others are well placed to do
- Discussion that
resourcing had to follow, particularly as technology had seen such
financial support, and although those involved in OL were happy to
contribute to schools return and recover, there did need to be funds in
place to make a success of things.
- A request for a high-level statement embedding outdoor learning into the strategy for schools returning. This to be made publicly by politicians and via Heads of Education / education communication streams.
It was pointed out that the timescales to support decisions being made are very short, and that all should be prepared to feed into those decisions equally quickly. We also expect more meetings.
As NNOL, we are looking to respond in four main areas to get
ahead of progress and incoming questions. We will be contacting you early next
week to see if you can help in a few areas for resources, advice and more:
- Guidance for use of
school grounds and resources
- Resources to support
delivery of CfE outdoors
- An Outdoor learning
‘buddy’ database
- Ongoing support and training for teachers and educators
Once again, our aim here is partnership working to see
outdoor learning, play and outdoor spaces used to the benefit of our learners.
The efforts we make now will further embed outdoors in our schools in Scotland,
to the benefit of all.
Please do get back in touch if we or you can help any more – we would like to hear from you.
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