Getting stuck-in

  

 

Getting stuck-in

The focus on learning outside the classroom has been around for some time now, so how can teachers keep it fresh? The National Trust takes a look at some innovative projects that have been developed as part of its School Guardianship scheme

For some students, the greatest lessons are learnt away from the school grounds and the benefits of getting children learning outside of traditional settings have been well documented. According to the Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) Manifesto, launched by the government in 2006, the advantages for students include increased self-esteem, better communication skills, more effective decision-making, and reduced discipline and behaviour issues.

 
Consequently, the Manifesto encourages all education professionals, local authorities and voluntary organisations to help make learning more engaging and relevant to young people by getting them into more hands-on environments.

Most teachers will have some experience of pushing their teaching plans outside of the classroom walls and will know that thinking big is the key to success, but finding engaging, local opportunities can be a challenge.

More than stately homes

To many the National Trust is an institution, renowned for its heritage attractions and conservation work, but the charity is about more than opening the doors of stately homes – it’s also helping children and young people to engage with their local environments through its School Guardianship scheme.

The scheme, which celebrates its 20^th anniversary this year, is part of the National Trust’s Discovery Programme, sponsored by Sky. It links National Trust properties and sites with local schools and colleges and helps them to deliver active hands-on learning through outdoor activities based around the national curriculum. The charity is currently running over 100 Guardianship projects across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The key difference between the Guardianship scheme and many other outdoor learning experiences is that it encourages multiple visits to a single site. This allows children to develop an on-going partnership with the project and helps to create a sense of ownership and investment in their local community.

Veg boxes and recipe books

St Mary's primary school in Lamberhurst is one of the schools involved in the scheme. It has established links with its local National Trust site, Scotney Castle in Kent. Two years ago the castle's Gardener Joe Lloyd helped regenerate a piece of wasteland next to the school and turn it into a garden, where the children learnt how to tend a plot of land and grow their own vegetables. It proved so successful that the project has been extended to the listed walled garden in the castle grounds, which the children visit on a regular basis.

Joe explains:

“The garden at the school is an ongoing project. It’s where students that are new to the gardening club learn and hone their skills and get to grips with growing. Once they have got the basics, they come up to the castle and plant in the vegetable patch here.”

Now an established and productive plot, the children have started a free veg-box scheme for older members of the community. Once a week they come into the school and share a meal with the children.

“The youngsters are very proud when they can give the vegetables they have grown to others,” says Joe. “They have a greater understanding and appreciation of where food comes from and it has even prompted some families to start their own plots at home.”

The children also get recipe ideas from the older members of the community, which they have developed into a recipe book.

“What is most valuable about the scheme is that it has helped to bring the older and younger generations of the community together,” concludes Joe. “Some of the older people have been growing vegetables all their lives so they really appreciate what the children are doing.”

Engaging children on their own terms

Another successful Guardianship project is based at the National Trust's Stowe Barton site in North Cornwall. The site, which covers a large area including beaches, coastal cliffs and heathland, works with two local primary schools and organises six activity days a year for both of them.

Fiona Symonds, a full time volunteer at the site, explains:

“The activities vary from class to class. For the older pupils, we build a programme designed specifically to support what they are learning at school.”

Most recently activities have been based around the topic of ‘seaside holidays,’ which is what the children were focusing on in school as part of their history and geography lessons. As part of these activities, children spent time on the coast learning about the history of the beach and how the landscape changes.

“We help the students to understand how the coast develops by getting them to pretend to be waves, which involves them picking up and dropping rocks from one part of the beach to the other. They then painted giant postcards of the beach to send back to themselves at school,” explains Fiona.

The pupils also recently got involved in a beach clean. Describing the task Fiona says:

“We place the rubbish the children collect into a big heap and ask them to sort it into piles depending on where they think each bit comes from. We then collect it all together and head back to the classroom. The students stick any rubbish that is colourful or pretty on to frames and attach pictures to the back to make collage artworks. It really helps the children understand the impact of people’s actions on the local environment and gives them a feeling of ownership of the coastline.”

As these two projects demonstrate, the lessons that can be learnt outside of the classroom are endless. They prove that no matter what your location there are always opportunities for getting children engaged and enthralled in their local environment.

To find out more about the National Trust School Guardianship scheme visit www. nationaltrust.org.uk