This project

Developing outdoor approaches to learning in schools is increasingly being recognised as effective in preparing young learners for the 21st century workplace. This project aims to empower all students, including those with mental or behavioural health problems by enhancing emotional wellbeing through the development of creative/nature-based learning skills. With schools currently facing a multitude of external, top-down pressures on educational attainment and health and wellbeing inequalities, there is a need for learning experiences that simultaneously improve health, wellbeing and school engagement whilst addressing curriculum needs. Our collective experiences show that the opportunity to provide high-quality teaching experiences to engage children aged 7-12 in learning is not restricted to the classroom setting. Taking learning outside the classroom/into the natural environment provides the opportunity for an integrated, cross-curricular approach to achieving education aims in line with the new curriculum for Wales. There is also an issue with childhood obesity that this project could support to alleviate.

Our overall aims and objectives are:

a/ to provide teachers, through good examples, with methods, techniques and tools for developing the use of the outdoors for more students' aged 7-12 to increase students’ engagement in their learning and contribute to student wellbeing,

b/ to offer teaching staff an approach to teaching and learning that, promotes multi-disciplinary connections, increasing the use and transferability of key competencies to outdoor learning situations

c/ to develop attitudes of openness and cooperation and intercultural dialogue between teaching staff and students, to support democratic processes and civil society in an integrated Europe

d/ to build systemic organisational culture, that supports whole school development and promotes an interdisciplinary approach to schoolwork particularly in using the outdoors and natural resources to enhance students learning and more importantly their appreciation of the outdoors in their everyday life.

Students aged 7-12 will be also direct beneficiaries as 3 pupil mobilities are taking place in 2022-23.

This project was funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ programme.

Participants (12) 

WALES

International Links Global (project coordinator: Ruben Chapela-Orri)

Townhill Community School, Swansea

Morriston Primary School, Swansea

Bishopston Primary School, Swansea

GREECE

Diefthinsi Defterovathmias Ekpaidefsis Viotias (local authority)

Primary School of Paralia Distomou Greece

4th Gymnasium of Livadia Greece

8th PRIMARY SCHOOL OF LIVADIA

ROMANIA

ASOCIATIA BLOCKSTART (local authority)

SCOALA GIMNAZIALA ION MARES VULCANA-BAI

Scoala Gimnaziala Coresi

Scoala Gimnaziala Grigore Radulescu Bezdead

Intellectual Outputs (4) 

O1 Impact Review

Baseline assessment and final assessment that were used to generate an impact assessment review and report. The questionnaires, assessment tools, etc. are now available within an Evaluation Report that includes also comments by teachers and pupils.

O2 Teacher Training Resources

All resources created for the LTTs were collected and used to create a toolkit for teachers. These include documents, power point presentations, webs and videos.

O3 Children's/Students toolkit of resources

Each participant schools designed a total of 3 lesson plans and 9 teaching resources, producing a total of 27 lesson plans and 81 resources for outdoor education. These plans were piloted and assessed during the final year of the project, 2022-23, and are now available for the wider teaching community. Lesson plans are also available in Welsh.

O4 Children's/Students Film

A set of pupil-led films were created by schools. A final Outdoor Education promotional film was also created by using the mottos created by pupils and footage from all participating schools.