Get Out More

Find out about the conference on "Healthy School Grounds" held on March 18th at Battleby, Perth.

Angela Anderson, one of SPTC's directors writes:

This is the most positive event I have attended, held in the stunning and very accessible (by car), facility belonging to Scottish National Heritage. The conference consisted of three plenary sessions in the main auditorium interspersed with six concurrently running workshops; delegates were able to attend four of these workshops.

The conference was organised by Grounds for Learning, (GfL) which is a Scottish charity aiming to help “children and their communities make the most of their school grounds for improved play, enhanced learning and make vital connections with the outdoors.” They, “create and deliver projects for school grounds specifically designed to fit with the Scottish Education and political system.

The conference began with Simon Lewis from GfL ripping off gloves and goggles and telling the 100 delegates that getting out, getting dirty and engaging with the landscape is natural, enjoyable, and beneficial both in terms of education and overall well-being.

Harvey Stalker, the Director of the Scottish Health Promoting Schools Unit, (SHPSU) then outlined the rationale behind the Scottish Executive's strategy to have every school in Scotland a “health Promoting School” by the end of 2007; to encourage and promote physical, social, spiritual (in the broad sense), mental and emotional well-being for all pupils and staff. The unit aims to deliver, “cracking good schools”, with a clear health promoting dimension which connect with the community informed by community planning and children’s services plans.

Mr Stalker emphasised that for many years there has been a lot of good practice and the task now was to introduce consistency. The SHPSU provides national support for the development of health promoting schools throughout Scotland, is Executive funded and operates as a partnership involving SEED, SEHD, LTS, NHS and COSLA. The unit is directed by a steering group of national and regional policymakers plus researchers and practitioners in health and education. It aims to pull these partners together in a sensible and coherent way to avoid duplication and overcome the inherent fragmentation in governance. Their document, "Being Well – Doing Well" has been distributed to all schools in Scotland.

Delegates then broke into groups to attend two of the six workshops. These were:

• Experiential Learning & Emotional Health – Stuart Lockton, Active Learning
• Grow Your Own – Food for Thought – Alex Fowles, Forth Valley Food Links
• Playing, It’s a dirty Risky Business! - Tassy Thompson, TT3 Arts
• Magic Murals - Joyce MacFarlane, Lower Clyde Greenspace
• Jump a Rope for Heart – Sally McCallum & Emma Boyle, British Heart Foundation
• Promoting Well Being in Schools – Jo Kopela & Benny Lawrie, Scottish Health Promoting Schools Unit

Prior to lunch there was an update from GfL on one of their current projects. “Where Schools Meet the Streets” aims to transform prison-like school entrances into more user-friendly spaces.

Two workshop sessions were run after lunch followed by a very competent and confident presentation, “Sowing & Growing in our School Grounds” from pupils in the Eco Schools Group at the Royal School of Dunkeld. This primary school benefits from spacious grounds and a staff with the vision to utilise it. Pupils are encouraged to get out and get dirty and quickly develop skills in safely using tools and garden implements. Their garden produce is then used in the school kitchen.

The Workshops Experiential Learning and Emotional Health This workshop involved three activities aimed at giving insight into this learning approach. Stuart Lockton described experiential learning as an approach to education which seeks to use the concrete experiences of a learner to promote learning, either in a direct practical way, or, more frequently, in a metaphorical way. As such experiential learning utilises a range of learning styles, and incorporates them into a holistic framework for learning. This enhances auditory, visual and kinaesthetic learning. The brain learns best when processing many inputs at once at many levels and needs multi sensory opportunities to learn.

The first task involved the whole group holding onto a rope laid in a large circle and leaning outwards. Individuals were then instructed to let go and the rest had to redistribute their grip to maintain the circle and balance. Everyone had to rely on each other; eventually there were too few people to maintain the circle.

The second activity was a willow wand. The group formed a circle with their hands facing outwards at chest level and their feet apart to give a firm stance. One person then stood in the middle with their eyes shut and swayed back and forth and from side to side. They were eventually caught and pushed upright by the circle.

If you would like more information on Grounds for Learning:
Email: gflscotland@stir.ac.uk
Or go to their website at: www.gflscotland.org.uk

This year’s schools grounds week runs from Wednesday 8th – Wednesday 15th June.
GfL membership cost £55 per annum and provides a wide range of school grounds resources including detailed funding sheets, free advice and a reduction on courses.

If you would like to know more about health promoting schools go to:
www.healthpromotingschools.co.uk
Angela Anderson