John Muir Awards

  

More and more we are being asked the following questions:

• Why take children outdoors to learn?
• What are the benefits to the school?

These two questions are central to the next series of bloggs we will be publishing and hope that readers use these insights to look at the curriculum's balance between the amount of time learning inside the classroom with the amount of time spent 'learning outside of it'.

 

 

 

 

               John Muir Awards (Discovery, Explorer, Conserver).

The John Muir Award is an environmental award scheme focused on wild places. It encourages awareness and responsibility for the natural environment, in a spirit of fun, adventure and exploration.
 

John Muir Award video (Part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roe9ufSBubw&feature=share&list=PLA3CD73F6865C6122


As a member of the John Muir Trust we work towards the vision that "Wild land is protected and enhanced throughout the UK and wild places are valued by all sectors of society", through educational programmes with children, families, schools and organisations to meet the criteria of the John Muir award.
 
We develop bespoke programmes to meet the needs of our clients to promote personal development, a fun and adventurous spirit, explore values and encourage personal responsibility for wild places.
 

John Muir Award Video (Part 2)

http://youtu.be/7B13_otvKO4

Our programmes can be tailored to include orienteering, geo-caching, mountain biking, hill walking, and water sports for more adventurous groups. This programme can also be delivered as part of a residential/camp experience.


John Muir Award Video (Part 3)

http://youtu.be/M3ga-G8PhoU
 

 

The Cyfleon approach

 At Cyfleon we use highly skilled practitioners trained in proven pedagogical approaches to improve learning and personal effectiveness. We draw upon global best practice in learning outside of the classroom, particularly Scandinavian approaches enabling us to provide young people and families with holistic learning experiences to develop the 'whole child'.

We ensure there is an appropriate level of ‘scaffolding’ to ensure children & young people of all capabilities receive the right level of challenge to achieve.

 

                                                     Discovering wild places

                             Pictures: Summit of The Blorenge, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

 

                                           Exploring the wilderness

Pictures: Finding edible plants and surveying the Flora & Fauna of the area.

 

                                                           Conservation
 

                     Picture: Supporting the Local Biodiversity Action Plan at a Local Nature Reserve (LNR)

                                          Picture: using tools and following designs to make bird boxes          

   Remember our two questions from the beginning?

The John Muir Award(s) are a great vehicle for providing the opportunity for children & families to learn about the natural environment, how to handle risks and most importantly to use their own initiative to solve problems and develop their independence.

Without stating the obvious benefits to the school with regards to happier, healthier and more conscientious learners (this will be covered in greater detail within later bloggs), the John Muir Awards are recognised by the Iinspectorate for Wales (Estyn) as best practice for schools to undertake.

For more information on the curriculum links please see the PDF attached on Curriculum for Excellence : http://www.jmt.org/assets/john%20muir%20award/downloads/jmt_cfe_final-1.pdf

To date we have been privaliged to deliver John Muir Award programmes with:

• SEN Schools (Tertiary 14-19)
• Primary Schools (year 5 &6).
• Gypsy traveller project
• School transition projects (year 6 & 7).
• Residential (Primary)
• Families
• NEETs (14-19 learning pathway). 

For more information on how we can support your child, family, school or organisation with developing outdoor learning opportunities (with accredited outcomes) please contact us:

 

                  Mob: 07903249789 or Email info@cyfleon.co.uk

 

 

 

For more information on the John Muir Award please go to http://www.jmt.org/jmaward-home.asp

 

 

 

 

Environmental Art Project

The E3 programme (Excite, Engage, Enrich)  is an out of school hours programme that forms part of the Rhondda Cynon Taff CBC Services For Young People. CYFLEON were commissioned through this programme to deliver an Environmental Art programme as an after school project at Mountain Ash Comprehensive school.

After discussion with the school we decided upon a project using traditional building methods such as dry stone walling  (or Dykes), cob (mixture of clay, sand and straw) and living willow to create a sculpture in the school woodlands. Using natural and heritage building techniques in the project supported the school with evidence to show their commitment to developing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) opportunities for pupils in their Out of School Hours Learning (OSHL) provision.

As part of the requirements for the project we consulted with the young people to develop a design and build brief for a sculpture with the group. We were also asked to accredit the project with a recognised award and decided upon using the ASDAN Environmental short course as this sat within the QCA framework. This award could then be used to gain CoPE/AoPE awards that would secure additional ACAS points (if wanted).

Using Nature to inspire creativity.

For many it was their first time in the school woodlands and the uncertainty of what was in there made several of the group apprehensive about  being in the woods for any length of time. A small number of the group were best described as disconnected with their natural environment.

Having gone to this school myself, I was fully aware of the great natural resource the school possessed  in its woodlands and decided upon incorporating some exploration and discovery of the area into the programme.  During our first session we attempted to start reconnecting our group with nature and explored the woods. Looking for inspiration whilst gaining a sense of security about being in a different learning environment, brought us encounters with magpies, robins, song thrushes, a tree creeper, a pair of squirrels and a mouse all within 30 minutes. This proved to be a success with more of the group excited about what could be found in their school woods.

To finish our session of exploring I wanted the group to take their time getting used to the different sounds, light and shadow's and even the smells that are present in the woods. Using magnifying glasses we took a closer look at items of interest we found in the woods and used these to play a game of charades. This helped to develop communication skills such as the ability to ask questions and answer constructively as well as breaking down some barriers between members of the group. This activity allowed for  positive interaction with each other describing objects such as seeds, nuts and berries found. We also began our journey of allowing the group to feel safe and secure in the woods; their classroom for the programme.

Dry Stone Walling 

We decided upon using a base made by a technique known as dry stone walling (Dykes). This we felt was less destructive to the environment than using a base made with cement/motor in addition to this, the dry stone wall with its natural holes and crevasses could serve as an habitat for some of the creatures that made their home in the woodlands.

Using this heritage building technique the young people learnt new skills with tools, risk management including undertaking their own risk assessments and the basics of building a drystone wall.

Making Cob
Having completed our base to mount our cob sculpture on, we began the next phase of our project building & sculpting with cob. Cob is a natural building material made from a mixture of clay, sand, straw and a little water (to move things along). It is an incredibly interesting material to work with, it is very tactile and easily formed into shape to create sculptures (big and small), benches, walls or our favourite a pizza oven!


We had great fun with our wellies mixing the ingredients with our feet and using a large tarp for the 'human cement mixer' mixing method. The ready mixture is formed into hand sized bread rolls or cob's; the origin of the materials name and then used to form the sculpture, cob by cob.

Creating our sculpture 

It was interesting to see that the group chose to create a tree as this was something that was a strong feature of every session; the importance of the trees for habitats, fuel, shelter (from some the wild and very wet welsh weather) and from recent research our health & well being. Also the town Mountain Ash is named after a mighty Rowan that once stood there.
To create a more visual surrounding for our tree (rowan) sculpture, we enclosed it with a living willow dome. This is another favourite material of mine that can be used to create some interesting areas for both learning and play.

To finish we protected our cob sculpture with a lime render coloured with natural pigments and contrasted this with a covering of bark around the base floor.

Project successes

• Developed young people's creativity.
• Learnt new skills in natural and heritage building techniques.
• Achieved an ASDAN Environmental short course
• Experienced and enjoyed nature as a learning environment.
• Had lots of fun.

We would like to thank the young people for their effort and enthusiasm throughout the project and the Community Focused Schools/E3 staff at Mountain Ash Comprehensive for their progressive and ambitious attitudes towards giving young people quality extra-curricular learning opportunities.