Explanation:

 Scolton Manor is a victorian manor house set in Pembrokeshire. It is the perfect place to teach both Foundation Phase and Key Stage 2, indoors and outdoors, and provides opportunities to teach the Welsh curriculum which is based on ESDGC (Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship). Each created resource allows activities during and after their visit.

ESDGC in the Primary School.

 To understand ESDGC (Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship) the four areas of learning at Foundation Phase and the seven areas of learning during Key Stage 2 need to be identified. It is important to realise that ESDGC should not be seen as an additional subject as ‘it is more than a body of knowledge as it is about values and attitudes, understanding and skills. It is an ethos that can be embedded throughout schools, an attitude to be adopted, a value system and a way of life’. In September 2004 Estyn required all school inspection reports to record the aspects of teaching ESDGC. In September 2006 the Welsh Government provided an ‘ESDGC A strategy for Action’ document which provided guidelines for professionals to enable the teaching of ESDGC in schools.

 The common areas of ESDGC include commitment and leadership, learning and teaching, school management, partnerships and community along with research and the monitoring of it. It ensures that it not the responsibility of one teacher but a whole school approach throughout several areas of learning.

 There are four areas of learning within the Foundation Phase and there are seven themes at Key Stage 2 that run within the ESDGC framework. This is a whole school approach.  It is not an individual response but a whole theme that involves all.

 Historically the educational curriculum has only been with us a short time but we can learn a great deal from it already. We have learned that allowing teachers free reign in what they teach gives no continuity or scaffold to a child’s learning hence the need for a new curriculum. We have however learned that we need a different generation for the future in an ever changing world. We need to become more aware of identity and culture, a cross cultural society and its acceptance. We need more opportunities for choices and decisions because we now have more decisions and choices to make. History has lot to teach us. We have learned that we need our children to become aware of what we are doing to ourselves, each other and our planet. We are now more aware of issues regarding health in its physical and mental form. We have learned that we need a future generation that is aware of wealth and poverty and the effects of inequality of the rich and poor (wealth and poverty theme). We also now have more information than ever on how to improve health both in physical and mental, and general well being. We have more information now on how to be responsible for our own and each other’s well being particularly in the area of mental health. We are aware the importance to look after our physical health. This is an important theme that runs within the ESDGC framework. It is essential that the children of today recognize how to keep themselves and others safe and well and the importance of how to be healthy and stay healthy. They need to realize where food is sourced and transported in the world which will also raise their awareness of consumption and unnecessary waste. They need to be aware of the need to recycle when possible, how to source renewable energy and realize that natural resources can and will run out.

 Wealth and poverty is a key area within the ESDGC framework. Learners should be given opportunities to treat one another fairly regardless of their wealth status. They are made aware of the need to share resources between the wealthy and poverty stricken and to also be aware of the feelings of others and the fairness of the situation.

I think it is clear that the outdoors has so much resonance to the impact of mental health. We are in such a digital age that we have forgotten about the outdoors and climate change. ESDGC embraces this. It’s an old forgotten past time being outdoors and hitting that serotonin rush. ESDGC is allowing this past knowledge to be retuned into the Welsh children of today. Adults, children and today’s society are ‘face down’ in their digital devices. Face down time doesn’t suit the world, it blanks a generation. We are at an era where people need to see again. Look up and see the world around you. There is a place for digital technology of course, it’s a learning curve and it is also a part of the future. ‘Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship is education that will prepare young people for life in the 21st Century.’

 The Welsh curriculum promotes  an education for a sustainable economy. It promotes awareness of climate change and the importance of our natural environment. It makes us aware that people’s choices and decisions have consequences on both people and the environment. ‘The Sustainable Development Action Plan 2004-7 identified ESDGC as one of the Welsh Assembly Government’s top ten priorities.’ It allows learners to understand that discrimination and exclusion of the other cultures is wrong, that everyone is different and that this needs to be respected. They are made aware of the fact that various cultures celebrate various festivals thus promoting equality between cultures and global citizenship within the religious education sector. Learners of the ESDGC curriculum will also have opportunities to have their views and opinions listened to.

‘Our children and young people only have a relatively short time at school. We must use this time judiciously and productively to help each one of them grow as capable, healthy, well rounded individuals who can thrive in the face of unknown future challenges.’

The resources within this portfolio include six lesson plans. Three of which are for Foundation Phase children and three are for those learning at Key Stage 2 level within the curriculum. The ESDGC theme is promoted within all of the lessons plans during and after an educational visit to Scolton Manor, it’s woodlands and walled gardens. This essay will explain how Education for Sustainable Development for Global Citizenship is the basis of these lessons and the various resources used to plan and execute the lessons in various settings.

 I have used various resources within my lesson plans so that they are visually appealing to Foundation Phase and Key Stage 2 learners at all abilities. It is important that all ages and abilities are catered for to ensure maximum learning potential within the ESDGC Framework. Children learn in various ways and so I would like to offer an array of learning styles to captivate this. The curriculum is delivered through different subject knowledge and different concepts of understanding.

 Lesson one teaches Science to Foundation Phase children of age five to six in the area of science at Scolton Manor. This lesson takes place in the natural environment and is a key theme of Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship (ESDGC). They will be walking around the woodlands and walled gardens at the manor. They are given an A3 poster which has both animals and plants on with tick boxes. The children will then see how many things they can find and then tick off once found. There are two sets of posters. With the higher ability and medium ability children they will need to find more than the lower ability children. The A3 posters are laminated so that children can reuse them which in turn will also teach them about recycling and waste. This will also cover consumption and waste theme that runs within the ESDGC curriculum. They will be able to express their reviews about their findings in either pair work or group work. They can also develop their Welsh language learning via being told the seasons in Welsh and that they are currently in Hydref.

Lesson two enables Key Stage 2 learners to explore the natural environment within ESDGC. Initially prior to the visit at Scolton Manor the children will have the opportunity to watch a youtube video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=517uFMGxHA). This will teach them the importance of trees in our world. It will raise awareness of the impact of felling trees and the consequences of humans decision with choices and decisions being a key factor within ESDGC. The Woodland Trust website has a fact sheet on British trees. Similar to my first lesson and based in the natural environment, this is also a tick sheet. Learners have to identify the different trees that grow in our country by leaf shape and thus also creating a Geography twist which is part of the wider curriculum. They will collect evidence in the form of twigs, leaves and conkers as the second part of their lesson for an activity which will be held back at the classroom.

 Lesson three teaches Foundation Phase learners creativity. During their visit they will collect an assortment of leaves. Once back at the classroom they will be shown examples of leaf crayon drawings (google images printed out) of various abilities and creativeness and will be allowed to be as creative as they like. It is important to remember that ‘teachers would do well to remember, however, that plenty of time should be allowed for children to complete creative work. It is no good stopping a child when he is successfully engrossed in a piece of artwork and expecting him to continue it the second week, when the inspiration and inclination has usually gone’.

 Lesson four will teach Key Stage 2 children about both Geography and Science in the natural environment. It’s also possible to teach them about climate change and the bee population. Scolton Manor homes its own bee hives so the children will have a tour around the facilities and back at the classroom they will be given a bee fact sheet. They will also use the ingredient honey in cooking flapjacks helping them with their numeracy skills. It will also enhance their well being skills being able to cook nutritious foods for themselves and checking standard measures. ‘The teaching and learning of humanities subjects or themes in the primary classroom seeks to make use of, and build on, children’s direct experience of the world around them.’

 Lesson five teaches mapping skills to Foundation Phase children again in the outdoor environment. They will have a laminated map in which they will take with them and they can map where things are during their journey such as The Owl House. This will also teach them the art of recycling as the poster can be used for future classes so again addressing consumption and waste. ‘Maps are a vital resource, but only one of the many resources we might use to investigate places and topics’ so this will be a good scaffold for Foundation Phase learners.

 Lesson six occurs back at the classroom after the educational visit. They have previously collected five leaves, four conkers, twenty-four sticks and now they are ready to create the ‘the terrifying twig skeleton’. This was downloaded from The Woodland Trust online (naturedetectives/activities/2015/10/terrifying-twig-skeleton). The higher and medium ability children will be able to do this by themselves, possibly hot gun the skeleton together and the less able children could work as part of a group.

 It is important for children to experience the outdoors, and that we as adults have made bad decisions that had devastating consequences. We need to raise a generation that are more aware of each other, beliefs, culture and to sustain the environment before we end even more aspects of the Earth. The lessons that I have developed incorporate ESDGC which is essential to save our planet.