Jennifer Allen, writes about the work of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum (PCF). The Forum is part of the Sustainable Pembrokeshire Environmental Education Link group (SPEEL) that was established in 2002 as a platform for ideas and practical discussion on how to positively promote and combine environmental education and sustainable development in Pembrokeshire. By taking a holistic and bespoke approach to sustainable management of the coast,…
Zion Lights, Home educator and writer, discusses her experience of Exeter Forest School, a not-for-profit social enterprise that focuses on outdoor learning. The school was founded in 2012 by Chris White, Tom Lowday and Shevek Pring. Their aim was simple – to bring the outdoors to young children, but they rapidly expanded into catering for all ages…
With a great destination at the end of the journey It’s five years since I wrote about our first granddaughter Lily scooting to school. Time seems to move on so quickly but she still uses the scooter as her fast transport. Looking further back to several more years I can clearly remember on a day…
Allison Price, with contributions from Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Conservation Education Committee, asks: How can we mobilize a national network for improved conservation education? Imagine you have a network of educators distributed at more than 225 zoos and aquariums throughout North America. It’s a pretty diligent group that serves more than 400,000 teachers and reaches 15…
Tiff Stewart, manager of the Kiwi Conservation Club explains its work. The KCC was established in 1988 by the Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, in order to involve and educate children in conservation. KCC caters to young people aged between five and twelve. Our vision is that through the Kiwi Conservation Club, young New Zealanders will come to…
Dr Susan Pike, Lecturer in Geography Education, writes about her work at St Partick’s College, Drumcondra. New teachers’ experiences of and attitudes to Environmental Education (EE) depend on many factors. At St Patrick’s College in Dublin, we find student teachers come to us with a wide variety of experiences of EE. Some students have attended schools…
Joel Chudleigh, founder and Chief Executive of Deep Footprints, explores the problems children now have because of their lack of access to nature, and what might be done about it. Children spend less time outdoors than ever before and, as the National Trust found out in a 2012 study, they have 90% reduced access to…
Katrina Podlewska, from the Forestry Commission, and Dani Andres, from Spirit Public Relations, explore children’s forest adventures with the Gruffalo. Ask primary children about the Gruffalo and the chances are most will be able to describe the character created by Julia Donaldson in the books The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child, illustrated by Axel Scheffler. So…
Building skills and confidence in using school grounds Sam Goddard, Forest School Leader, and Chair of Herefordshire Forest School Group, explains why outdoor play and learning is crucial to children’s healthy development, both physically, mentally and emotionally. In his acclaimed book ‘Last Child In The Woods’, Richard Louv says that many of our children are suffering from ‘nature deficit disorder’.…
Where will you be today? Will you be inside (again)? Or will you be with your students in the warm breeze and experiencing that feel-good factor that comes of fresh air, exercise, and the stimulus of the natural world? If not, why not? It is empty classroom day, after all.