Curriculum Exemplar
ECO-PROJECT: 2020 21
Blog 2: ECO-PROJECT: Working Party Meeting 1 December 2020
The Eco-working party met on Wednesday evening. The group presently consists of parents, staff and governors but could broaden out in time.
We are determined to remain focused in our approach and ensure that whatever we teach the children, curriculum-wise, in school about the environment is rooted in our own day to day practice first.
We have chosen as our initial focus- ‘Paper,’ our aim to use, re-use and recycle paper in a more responsible manner as well as developing a curriculum unit about paper.
We need to think this through as a staff first before we make any hard and fast commitments but from now we would be interested to hear from anyone in our school and wider community (via admin@minchschool.net ) if you have any ideas/ comments about ‘paper.’
BLOG 1: Curriculum Thread 5 : Eco-Activism : November 2020
We are engaged in an eco project with Ecotricity to both transform the school into a more sustainable environment and develop a curriculum that supports our pupils to become eco-activists.
Our curriculum has 7 Curriculum Threads running through it- all leading to core knowledge and understanding and attitudes we hope our Year 6 pupils will embody by the time they leave the school. We must recognise that our pupils enter school with an existing knowledge base and we must look to build upon, connect and sometimes dismantle this base; while at the same time bringing something new to the equation. In defining desired outcomes for Year 6 pupils (at the end of the thread) we therefore look to:-
a) our own beliefs about the purpose of primary education (i.e. what we would like to bring to the equation)
b) our community context (ie what our community brings to the equation)
c) our core values as a school (ie what our church distinctiveness helps to bring to the equation)
Our Curriculum threads are:-
Curriculum Thread 1: Spirituality & Core Values
Curriculum Thread 2: Sense of Community
Curriculum Thread 3: Strengths and Interests:
Curriculum Thread 4: Appreciation of Difference
Curriculum Thread 5: Environmental Activism
Curriculum Thread 6: Creativity and the Appreciation of Beauty
Curriculum Thread 7: Wellbeing
These Curriculum threads will be laced through subject topics. They will be the focus of assemblies and school events and focus weeks and P4C. They will be the focus of some Ethical Communities.
Desired outcomes for our Eco-activists: Pupils who are environmentally aware and confident to speak their truth and act to make the world a better place, both in their personal habits and through environmental activism. Pupils who understand there are 4 main areas we need to tackle to improve sustainability and save the environment:- Energy, Transport, Food, Giving the land back to nature. Pupils who show a personal commitment to improving these 4 areas as well as a commitment to reaching out and convincing others.
Learning outcomes from units taught: Learning as well as outcomes will be predominantly oracy based: we need our young people to ‘speak their truth’ with confidence and persuasively. The focus on oracy will include philosophy for children, debating, public speaking, storytelling, drama. Outcomes will always include ‘taking action’ to make a difference. Behind our approach there will be a commitment to reaching out to and appreciating very different points of view as well as evaluating the quality/ accuracy of available information.
Principles:
-There is a solution
-We must be committed to reaching out to and appreciating very different points of view as well as evaluating the quality/ accuracy of available information.
-Pupils centred- pupils fully involved in the planning and implementation
-Change must start with us/ our own habits
-Tap into people’s strengths
Who: -Minch: 2 staff leading: Meg Gittens and Meg Griffiths; Eco tricity: 1 staff: Dahlia Nahome; school community working party; pupil working party- working on the planning
-Other partners – eg Bath Spa Uni, FGR, Story-telling schools
Possible next steps:
-Liaison between leads in Ecotricity and Minch
-Governor involved working party improving school sustainability
-Launch of model unit