Fieldwork Experiences: Making Links with Wider World

Issue 2012/4 December Newsletter

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www.nafso.org.uk page

Issue 2012/4 December Newsletter

Professional Development Event 2013

“Fieldwork experiences: Making Links with Wider World”

Peter Smith

Colleagues A short, sincere note to all involved in the success [again] of our annual event. Well done! Despite the wind and rain at times, it went so well and I am sure we all came back with very good memories of some aspect of the event [even if only being

10/01/2012

Tom Davies,PGL Study Co-ordinator and the staff at PGL Caythorpe Court, near Grantham in Lincolnshire are getting ready for the gathering of NAFSO members from all around UK and further afield on January 3rd. Members, associates and guests will enjoy a wide range of key note speeches and workshops as varied as “facilitation skills” to the “circular economy”. There are opportunities to extend your reviewing skills, discuss inclusivity issuses or follow Caythorpe’s history trail. There will be a chance to follow more traditional fieldwork activities such as a river study and teaching about pollution and waste. A particular opportunity of setting up a new fieldwork study in a new location is offered, using the the format of a settlement study or a visit to Lincoln Cathedral and a local quarry. To view the original prspectus go to: www.nafso.org.uk/images/publicdocs/pde%2013%20prospectus.pdf , but as some options have had to be cancelled for a variety of reasons, contact Chas,Tom or Stibbington for the latest news.

The cost is kept low again this year, as low as £169 for a shared room for members. This is good value for two nights and full board with no extras apart from your own drinks. Only £179 for non members, who are welcome. Single accommodation is avaialble at a small extra price. NAFSO helps delegates to share transport to keep costs down (SATNAV NG32 3ER). Free collection from Grantham railway station is also available. Booking form is on line or contact , or .

Executive News

The Executive Committee held a meeting on 22nd November. The NAFSO finances continue in a healthy position and membership is increasing.

Membership

New members are invited to join NAFSO at any time in the year. Practitioners who are involved in field studies, field work, learning outside the classroom, sustainability, environmental, wildlife, or forest education are particularly welcome at PDE. Please tell all your contacts about NAFSO. You can contact membership secretary Dave Jackson on his email address or through the NAFSO website.

Journal & Review

The editor Michelle Rogers is currently compiling the 2013 publication. Please contact her by email: with suggestions for contributions or topics. Perhaps you have recently met someone who could write a topical and stimulating article that would interest members? Tell Michelle!

Newsletter

The editor, Clare Shorter, has been retired as her Centre (Sparsholt Schools’ Centre for Environmental Education) has sadly been closed by Hampshire County Council. Therefore a new editor is invited to take on the exciting prospect of communicating effectively with NAFSO members using 21st century technology. You can choose how to present news to NAFSO members! Please tell Chairman, Chas Matthews on if you are interested at all.

Loss of yet more Field Centres

Many Field Centres still run by Children’s Services are under threat of closure. Even those centres where members of the Executive committee work are being closed. The petition to raise awareness of the threats to Local Authority Centres organised by Steve Tilling, FSC Director of Communications is closing on 23rd Jan 2013. It has only 6000 signatures so far and needs 10,000 to generate a question in Parliament. See:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPEenciK8uQ&feature=youtu.be or follow Steve on twitter (@SaveFieldwork). Please get for support for the petition from as many people as you can, such as students and their parents, who surely value such a resource after spending a fantastic time learning outdoors at your centre. Please use your extensive networks of to get more signatures.

Growing Schools - growing with schools

New grants of up to £10,000 have recently been offered for 3 organisations or groups to set up new hubs. If you already run a group which could act as a hub for developing food growing in schools then look at the web site www.growingschools.org.uk and apply quickly. The closing date is 28th January 2013.

Council for Learning Outside the Classroom - Reforming GCSE Exams

NAFSO has endorsed the response from the Natural Environment Sector of the CLOtC to the Dept of Educations request for consultation on reforming Key Stage 4 qualifications. In other words NAFSO has added its voice saying, in essence, that:

· “Every child should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of education”

· “We feel that fieldwork should be a vital element in an imaginative and contemporary science, history and geography education….” and

· stressing the importance of practical work and field work in a high quality curriculum and that increased time could be made available for field trips in an innovative school curriculum.

LOtC

“Raising Attainment through LOtC: an inspiring Day” is the summary of the 4th annual conference held in November. The talk by Professor Peter Higgins was particularly interesting and he recommended that every educator should ask themselves “Why am I doing this activity with these kids here, now?” You can view his slides on the www.lotc.org.uk/2012/raising-attainment-through-lotc-an-inspiring-day and I recommend you take a look. Prof Higgins has been invited to write an article for the next Journal and Review.

Sustainable Schools Alliance (SSA)

The Sustainable Schools Alliance hopes to become more sustainable, with a part time admin officer and a termly newsletter to schools. A meeting was organised by SEEd on 6th December to create a management board. NAFSO attended and there will be further news in the next newsletter.

· “How you can teach Sustainability”- SEEd Webinar (on-line seminar) on 12th December at 5pm for only 45 minutes. At £10, it is well worth the money. (As a NAFSO member you might get the £1 reduction!) www.se-ed.org.uk.

IOL & NAFSO working together

Michelle Rogers reports: “Inspired by the comments I received at last year’s PDE regarding the organisations offering mutual discounts for courses, we are trialling joint training events in Wales. The evening of the 6th December saw the first of these workshops take place, hosted by Daniel Moncrieff at the Rhyd-y-Creuau FSC centre. The theme of the workshop was “Technology in the Outdoors” and during the session, participants tried out various field studies apps on the all-weather Ipads before heading indoors to investigate using basic GIS software (including Google Earth, GE graphs, Memory Map and Movie Maker) to reinforce learning undertaken in the outdoor classroom.”

The workshop was followed by a cooked meal and the opportunity to get to know the other people and network. Participants share ideas on how to use some of the techniques in their centres on their courses. More workshops in the New Year were also discussed.

IOL News

Encouraging teachers to adopt outdoor learning is the aim of IOL’s programme of one day courses entitled “Enabling Outdoor Learning” to be held across the UK. The aim is to develop teachers’ base competence and confidence in using outdoor learning in disciplines ranging from forest schools to field studies. If you are interested in helping deliver or promote one of these events please contact IOL. www.outdoor-learning.org.

Climate Week

The climate week challenge is open to schools, organisations (such as centres) to run on one day or over the week 4 -10 March 2013. Take a look on www.climateweek.com

Natural Connections

A research report from Natural England has just been released onto the web. It looks at schools/ teachers and their attitudes and involvement with outdoor learning. It may interest or inspire you and your colleagues. An introduction is available here:

www.outdoor-learning.org/Portals/0/IOL%20Documents/Newsletters

The full report is at

http://www.outdoor-learning.org/Portals/0/IOL%20Documents/Newsletters_Docs/Nat%20England%20report%20on%20LINE%20July%2012.pdfhttp://www.outdoor-learning.org/Portals/0/IOL%20Documents/Newsletters_Docs/Nat%20England%20report%20on%20LINE%20July%2012.pdf if the link is working! (It was not just now!)

END

Clare Shorter. NAFSO Newsletter Editor. December 2012

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