‘LEEFlet’ The Newsletter of the London Environmental Education Forum Spring 2009
“Schools in Parks” a new scheme by the Field Studies Council By Beth Jones Project Officer (Schools in the Parks Field Studies Council)
Schools in the parks began in September 2008, and is a three year Field Studies Council Project, funded by The Heritage Lottery Fund and Natural England. The aim is to increase the number of secondary schools in Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark using their local parks and green spaces to support teaching across the curriculum. In order to engage schools in using their local area, the project will be working directly with schools to help design and plan curriculum linked lessons in the field. A key aspect to the project is to provide training to park staff, volunteers and outdoor educators, to create a skilled network of support for secondary schools wanting to use their local parks with classes.
A survey was sent out to all secondary schools across the four boroughs asking for information about current out of classroom teaching. Approximately a third of schools responded, the results of which showed that health & safety and timing issues were the biggest considerations when taking pupils out of the classroom. These issues will therefore be the focus for the initial stages of the project. The project was born out of the success of the London Outdoor Science project, a previous FSC project based in North London, creating schemes of work for schools to carry out in parks. The KS4 science resources from this project are still available online. A similar resources will be available as a consequence of the schools in the parks project, with a range of resources and information to help schools make effective use of local greenspaces. Several schools have shown interest in getting involved in the project. Schools in the Parks is supporting one school in Southwark which has decided to carry out science fieldwork in the local park and create a virtual learning environment (VLE) to support the pupils work in the park. Another school in Greenwich is hoping to develop some work using GPS and GIS in their local park. History, P.E, Citizenship and maths departments have also shown enthusiasm for getting outside.
www.fieldstudies council.org/projects/schoolsinthepark/index.as px www.fieldstudiescouncil.org/outdoorscience
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