Project Title:

Please make sure that you read this BEFORE your project starts as your Final Project Report should include answers to all the following questions. E.g. you will need to make sure that you keep accurate records of the numbers of people involved in the project.

The Project Report is due no later than 6 months from the date on which you receive the cheque from the OLW Grant Scheme.

Please include a detailed financial breakdown including a statement of the final income and expenditure. These accounts will be subject to sample audit.

If the project has not been completed within these six months a brief interim report will be required with a full project report on completion.

If for any reason the project does not take place, please note that the OLW Grant Scheme reserves the right to request the return the grant (or part of it, if the project has been only partially completed).

Once stored on the website the information you provide will enable other network groups to duplicate all or part of your project, locate the resources you have produced or contact your network group to share ideas and best practice.

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PROJECT INFORMATION

Project Title

Science in Cycles

Project Reference Number

331-Wa-14:F

Name of cluster group

Dyfi OLW

Project start and completion date.

Start: May 14 2014 End: November 19 2014

Where did the project take place? Who owned the land? Contact details if applicable.

The project took place at the Ty Gwyn Forest School site in Forge, near Machynlleth, which is owned by Natural Resources Wales.

Lead organisation for project and contact details

This project was lead by Karen Rush and Anni Lloyd-Adey of the group Outside Education, who are members of the Dyfi OLW group.

Anni Lloyd-Adey:

Bodfan,

Cemmaes,

Machynlleth,

Powys. SY20 9PR.

Tel: 01650 511888

Karen Rush:

Bwlch y Mynydd

Bethania,

Llanon,

Ceredigion. SY23 5NJ.

Tel: 01974 272010

List any other partners or organisations involved

The force behind the content and ethos of the project was Tom Deacon of Dyfi Woodlands; Tom brought a strong bond with Real World Learning, as he had recently been involved in the RWL seminars internationally, and the project was linked to RWL through a small grant which would enable Tom to write up a detailed report for them.

Our other project leaders were Kirsten Manley (Dyfi Woodlands) and Cath Rigler (independent Forest School practitioner and youth leader) and Jenny Dingle an experienced science teacher and education officer from local RSPB reserve Ynys Hir. Jenny brought her science know-how, along with years of outdoor-learning-facilitating experience.

Along with these practitioners, we are greatly indebted to Fiona Rowe (Outside Education) and Rachel Behan (both FS level 1) who were active members of the project planning group, and devised numerous resources, and were also able to step in as leaders during later sessions.

Tom Deacon (above), Kirsten Manley (centre), Cath Rigler

( below left), Jenny Dingle (right).

Network Group Final Project Report

Network Group Final Project06/05/2014

PROJECT SUMMARY

Where did the idea for your project come from?

The idea for the project came from Fiona Rowe, who has been a member of Outside Education for some years.Our previous major project had been an Art-based one (Footprints in the Woods), and Fiona, whose son was 11 when the previous project ended, suggested that our next funding bid should be for a project which specifically fed the growing scientific curiosity of the older children in the group.It was Fionas idea to base the project on a detailed study of the cycles of nature although the link with Real world Learning did not materialise until the final OLW meeting before the bidding round that was pure synchronicity.Tom Deacon was fresh from the latest meeting of RWL, and keen to work on a new project to try out the RWL model (please see the next section for a prcis of RWL ideology) I proposed the cycles project as the Dyfi OLW bid, and from there the idea took off on wings of its own!

Give a description of project.

Science in Cycles was Brilliant!! Sorry I had to get that off my chest before beginning properly.

The cycle of a sweet chestnut by Jian (8)

Science in Cycles was an exciting project which gave us a series of six sessions five of which looked in detail at a particular natural cycle or pattern and its place within the natural world and its interplay with other cycles. The sixth and final session brought our knowledge of all the cycles together and looked at interrelationship, that of the natural cycles themselves and also the impact that we as humans have upon them.

Put like this, the project does look very educational, but not necessarily pioneering - the thing which really bowls me over every time I think of this project, was the emphasis (highlighted at the start of each session through the raising curiosity activities) upon the fact that we ourselves are a part of each cycle either deeply affected by it (as by the seasons, for example) or directly a part of it, as we are a part of the water cycle, which was the cycle that we began with, back in May, 2014.

Thus, learning about each cycle generated thoughts and discussions about ourselves and our place within the natural world, and led naturally to ideas about values, respect and sustainability.

These values are very much a part of the desired outcomes of the RWL network, and as this project was, as far as we know, the very first to pilot the new RWL model for outdoor learning, it will be helpful for me to give a quick account what the RWL network is, and the aims of their organisation.

The Real World Learning Network actively researches and promotes approaches to outdoor learning that increase action for sustainability. The deep thinking behind this simple sentence is all about young people developing a deep-rooted sense of respect and values relating to the natural environment (and by extension, the whole world and its diverse communities) through being and learning outdoors. These aims were agreed upon during a series of international seminars during 2013, when the RWL hand model (representing their ideology for outdoor learning programmes) was also developed.

The RWL hand model

The image of a hand is universally understood to encapsulate a value of five as well as emphasising the relationship of the learning experience to us as human beings. The five fingers represent Understanding, Transferability, Experience, Empowerment and Values, while the palm of the hand represents a binding story or frame as a theme with which to inform the learning experience.

For the Science in Cycles project, our leaders chose the frame All taking requires giving back

Further information can be found at rwlntwork.org.

All taking requires giving back Jenny Dingle leads an activity where a dead leaf becomes food for a planted seed... during our Nutrients session.

How we planned Science in Cycles.

Toms enthusiasm for the RWL ideology was infectious, and during a meeting in April 2014, of all prospective leaders and volunteers (and even one of our K3 youngsters), the overall view of the SinC was agreed. The project would cater for three separate age groups. The main thrust of the project had been for the older age group, but the reality of the home-educating group is that there are children of a wide age group, who have differing educational needs. We wanted to keep the integrity of the older age group, and (unusually for Outside Education) we were quite strict about youngsters staying in their groups, as every effort was being made to make their own sessions fun and stimulating.

Toms enthusiastic introductions were an important part of each session.

Our sessions ran on May 14th (water), June 11th (lithosphere), July 9th (nutrients), September 24th (seasons), October 22nd (life-cycles) and November 19th (combining and consolidating).

Spacing the sessions at monthly intervals allowed us to witness seasonal changes in our woodland over seven months. We also had plenty of time to evaluate, allowing our findings to inform subsequent sessions. For our participants it meant that time was available to explore learning, and the gap between sessions was bridged by a worksheet which elaborated on the theme of the session for home study, and suggested further lines of exploration.

The Rhythm of Each Session.

Sessions were based loosely on the format of typical Forest School day there was a meeting circle, a home-fire at lunch time, with an opportunity for free play, and two distinct blocks of learning activities, before and after lunch.

But we stressed that SinC was not Forest School. The difference was that the led activities were designed to deliver specific science learning, and although we developed the sessions to be fun, we did not want youngsters to drift in and out of free play during sessions. We asked families to support their childrens learning during activities, or allow children to play where they would not distract others.

With the older group this was not an issue, as our KS3 learners were highly motivated, but the KS2 group (which was my personal interest) could be excitable and varied in age from 7 to 11; strategies for bringing them into focus included using active play as a learning tool (see picture below) and also allowing older KS 2 youngsters to join in with the KS3 group activities, to which they responded with growing responsibility.

An active game in which participants play salmon defying the odds to return to their spawning ground.

The meeting circle which begins a forest school session became, in SinC, an extended introduction to the sessions theme. This was called Raising Curiosity and involved a series of activities, as well as a giant jigsaw, which provided a treasure-hunt for the pieces hidden in the woods, which made up into a creative interpretation of the days theme a talking point for Toms introduction, when participants had all arrived.

Giant Jigsaws provided a fun activity, a creative visual depiction of the days theme, and a focus for discussion.

Raising Curiosity activities were devised by the session leaders, and were often simple scientific processes. the water session, for instance, youngsters were invited to weigh themselves, calculate approximately how much water they had in their bodies, and see what that amount of water actually looks and feels like (we brought water onto the site in familiar plastic milk containers);

They were asked to paint water onto slates, in order to watch it evaporate and watch ice melt, and observe the change in state.

They were also encouraged to drink a small glass of water, and were reminded to think about it throughout the day, and at the end of the day had the opportunity to talk about where it had gone.

Raising Curiosity activities included Jenny Dingles wonderful menu, and dissecting droppings and owl pellets during the Nutrients session.

How long we spent on the opening activities varied. We had learned from previous projects that this is an important time, and that young children (KS 1 and 2) have plenty of energy and excitement to work off (hence the jigsaw treasure hunt) but we did not want to interrupt families engaged in learning processes. However, the nature of our group is that people arrive on site with varying degrees of punctuality, and this usually allowed a natural time for moving onto the body of the session.

It is very nice to see so much WATER gathered together here in the woods today!

The body of each session began with an introduction by Tom, which always stressed the relationship of each theme to our own beings, and to the frame all taking requires giving back.

Groups were identified by themed group titles for example, in the Water session Snowflakes (Foundation stage) Raindrops (KS 2) and Nimbus (KS 3) and after the meeting activities, and Toms introduction, each group joined its leader and volunteers for their morning activities.

There is not space in this report to give more than a taste of how these sessions developed, but detailed plans of these sessions, along with ideological support can be accessed by contacting Outdoor Learning Wales, where session plans for the SinC project are available.

Taking our first session, the water cycle, as an example, each of the three groups looked at the scientific elements of the cycle in an appropriate way, so that while the Nimbus (KS3) group were discussing interception, evaporation and transpiration at a mature level, whilst observing and conducting a range of experiments in the woods, the raindrops (pictured r) were being clouds carrying rain uphill in buckets (the water becoming so heavy during the uphill walk, that at top, they broke into a storm, and water was liberally splashed everywhere! Meanwhile, the younger snowflakes were discovering about water flow by finding squelchy patches of the forest floor and talking about where the water was coming from.

Fun was high on the agenda for the younger groups, but always led onto more serious discussions and activities... even the snowflakes were making comparisons between themselves and the trees around them.

Making a filter unit from a plastic bottle and builders sand. It works!

And the raindrops were soon making the same discoveries as the older group, and concepts such as transpiration, interception and infiltration became familiar.

Simple experiments led to scientific discoveries.

After lunch, the Nimbus group recorded data and made calculations relating to their transpiration experiments, while the Raindrops were encouraged to use their creativity to make their own world from materials found on site, and watch it change when water filled its pools and streams, and the Snowflakes enjoyed a stream story and were accompanied to the stream in the woods, where learning from the morning was reinforced by supported dialogue and play.

Making a miniature world to witness the water cycle filling its streams and seas.

At the conclusion of each session, all groups came together to share their learning this proved to be a valuable time for participants to talk about their discoveries, and enjoy listening to the exploits of the other groups. Sometimes the giant jigsaw provided a focus for these closing circles, on other occasions the youngsters own creativity was enough....

A pupa (KS2, life-cycles participant) shows how the caddis fly larva makes a protective case in the life cycles closing circle.

One of our Summer Growers (KS 2 seasons cycle participant) explains why she has built a protective cover to help grow her early crops.

A Spring Seedling (Foundation stage, Seasons session) shows off the nest he has made to keep his dormouse (small bottle of warm water, covered in fur) warm. The closing circle enabled other participants to feel that the bottle inside was still warm and the nest a success!

The foundation children (larvae) display their collection of seeds and leaves during the closing circle of the life cycles session.

The Closing Circle allowed Tom to bring thinking back to the frame and guide dialogue about the cycle we are studying. It was a time for reflection, as well as a time for sharing our new knowledge.

The final session (entitled Interconnections) also took on a role of consolidation and reflection.

During the raising curiosity period we were encouraged to think about how we and the cycles themselves interconnect. We placed a selection of natural and man-made objects placed around a circle, and participants used string to connect each item to its relevant cycles by means of sticks placed around the circle. Items and cycles were soon irrevocably linked by a star-shaped web of string.

On top of this we managed to balance and construct our interconnections jigsaw making a potent metaphor for the delicate balance of mans place alongside and within the natural cycles.

While the older group spent some time discussing the differences and relative advantages/disadvantages of holistic and reductive approaches to scientific study, the younger groups were looking at where our food was travelling from, and whether we could make changes in how we live which could be more in harmony with nature.

In that final session, true to the frame of the project, we gave back to the environment which had been our home for the previous five sessions. Areas we had used around the site were renewed, with the older youngsters leading the younger ones in activities such as clearing away temporary constructions, and renewing forest home walls, while and some of the younger children made homes for insects to hibernate in, in preparation for the winter.

It was a practical and strangely sacred finale to a project which had nourished our youngsters on so many levels.

A drawing by Jian (age 8) which she did some three months after the SinC project finished, showing her understanding of the nature of cycles. Do note the leafcutter bee wonderful!

Give details of how the project met the specified learning curriculums or programmes

Aspects of the following areas of the Welsh National Curriculum for Key Stage 2, 3 and 4 were covered during the project:

Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship:

This project is designed to develop thinking and action for sustainability, so is highly appropriate to this cross cutting theme of the curriculum. It linked with a number of the 7 range themes of ESDGC in the following ways:

The Natural Environment due to its setting outdoors in a woodland environment all the learning in this project will be linked to this theme. Thinking and learning was developed using the woodland environment to link with self and the wider world, understand the interconnections.

Consumption and Waste through understanding the finite nature of looped systems learners gained an appreciation of the need to use resources carefully.

Choices and Decisions self-directed learning is a key element of this project, therefore creating wide scope for the learners to share views, work cooperatively and understand that their choices and decisions have consequences.

Health by learning in the dynamic environment of the outdoors learners will develop an appreciation of keeping themselves and other safe.

Identity and Culture being part of a diverse group of home educating families and peers the learners had the opportunity to develop their understanding of the value of friends and family, and be able to recognise that everyone is special and different.

Wealth and Poverty through sharing communal space and time with a range of people of different ages and backgrounds learners could share resources, treat others fairly and appreciate the different feelings of others.

Climate Change - through learning about how cyclical systems relate to the living and inanimate world of the woodland, and how it relates to themselves and communities of which they are part the learners developed an appreciation of how they can act to make a difference. As the project ran from late spring through to early winter learners observed seasonal change and changing weather patterns - this was linked to the idea of climatic change over longer periods. The use of the suns energy as a power source for photosynthesis will develop thinking around alternative energy sources.

Skills across the curriculum:

The following three key skills were developed:

* Developing thinking thinking creatively and critically was essential for learners to develop their understanding of the cycles explored during this project. They were required to plan, develop and reflect upon their own investigations of the world around them, linking it to themselves, the natural environment and society.

* Developing communication skills of oracy and wider communication were strongly supported through developing and sharing information, and through communicating feelings and ideas

* Developing number learners used numbers to gather data, make calculations and present their findings to others

Science in the National Curriculum for Wales

Range:

* Interdependence of organisms through investigating the natural world around them learners developed an understanding of their reliance on other organisms and services provided by the natural world for their survival.

* The sustainable Earth a core element of the project involved learners investigating the materials in the Earth and atmosphere and how they can change, applying this knowledge to their own context.

Skills:

* Communication see skills across the curriculum above

* Enquiry learners were involved in adopting an enquiry based approach to investigating the science of cycles by seeking patterns, exploring, classifying and identifying, developing systems, and creating fair tests.

* Welsh/Cymraeg although the project was delivered in English, we used as much Welsh as we could during meeting circles, and communal times, and in resources wherever possible.

How did the project meet OLW aim and objectives?

This project met the FEI aims and objectives by:

1. Through these sessions the participants gained an immersive first hand learning experience which involved hands-on science in woodlands, with a strong emphasis on self-directed learning.

2. Positive action for sustainable development was one of the key areas that this project aimed to address. The youngsters developed an understanding the science of cycles in the woodland and wider environment, and were able to relate it to themselves and the physical and social world around them. This will enable them to make informed life choices as they grow, taking the environment and other communities into consideration.

3. The exploration of the woodland through the science of cycles necessitated the scientific exploration of key elements that are involved in the planting, growing and resource extraction of timber. It connected wood and other sustainable woodland products with the constituent parts of their surroundings such as the geology, water, climate and nutrient availability.

4. These sessions were based on active, hands-on science. Learners and their families were physically active throughout the sessions moving around the undulating woodland site. Through facilitated, self-directed and peer supported learning learners physical and emotional well-being were supported and developed in the safe and stimulating woodland setting.

INPUTS

OLW funding

Amount Requested =4,034.00Amount Awarded =4,234.00List project costs and total expenditure indicating items funded by OLW. (Attach a separate account if available).

Delivery of six sessions, three qualified practitioners @ 150 each per day (minus one practitioner for one day, who gave his time for free that day) 2,250.00 (OLW)

Planning 559.50 (OLW)

Travel costs (practitioners and volunteers) 147.75 (OLW)

Materials/resource making/consumables 115.05 (OLW)

Administration, Report writing and resource development 500.00 (OLW)

600.00 (RWL)

Grand Total: 4,562.30

Total OLW spend: 3,962.30

Was any money left over? If so, on what was it spent? NB: Significant under spends should be declared and returned.

Thanks to the generosity of our volunteers and practitioners, we were able to keep the costs of this project quite low.

We therefore have 271.70 left in our OLW pot, which we would like to put towards the Dyfi OLW storage facility, for which funds are desperately needed, and which will enable Dyfi OLW cluster group to have a centralised secure storage facility for their collected outdoor learning tools, tarps, utensils etc.

OUTCOMES

These are all the changes, benefits, learning or other effects that happen as a result of what is delivered. They can be expected or unexpected, positive or negative, intermediate or end

What benefits has the project produced?

Short term?

Long term?

Short term: This project has provided families of the Outside Education group with access to an inspirational learning experience, which has been a wonderful start for our childrens further explorations into the world of natural science. The older children in Outside Education have had a project which directly met their learning needs, and gave them the support they need to expand their thinking processes.

The project brought together outdoor practitioners from different backgrounds, and enabled them to share experiences and learning. It also gave two FS level 1 practitioners valuable experience and confidence in planning and running sessions.

Long Term: The direct long term outcome of this project will be to positively reinforce the values of respect for our planet and sustainability in its participants, and inspire the scientists and practitioners of the future.

Indirectly the outcome will be (hopefully) to inspire practitioners and funders to secure further projects, through the OLW website and the RWL network, so that many more youngsters will have the opportunity to enjoy this type of learning experience.

Funding to explore the possibilities of producing a book about this project will be sought.

Detail the sustainable aspects of the project if present. If not, detail the

barriers to this.

This project has the potential to be extremely sustainable, in that the learning which has been passed on to families and their youngsters has provided a firm platform for further study.

It has also been a valuable experience for the leaders and volunteers who joined us all of whom found the project uplifting and inspirational, and will hopefully take their experiences forward to inform projects in the future.

Give details of who has benefitted from the project?

The group Outside Education has benefitted through this project by consolidating and increasing membership.

The group Dyfi OLW has benefitted by hosting this project; the project was planned through collaboration between members of the Dyfi OLW group, who have consequently been able to share experiences and best practice, and it has been a valuable place in which to reinforce professional ties within the group.

The RWL network has benefitted through seeing its model used and evaluated in a first project, with a detailed report written by Tom Deacon.

What resources were produced?

A series of 6 detailed session plans (including RWL ideological support on using the RWL hand model and the frame) greeting activities and session activities, as well as supporting material have been produced by Tom Deacon.

In addition to the activity outlines these plans include which core values are being supported, which competences are being developed, the fields of learning covered, and they highlight opportunities for self-directed learning and list the scientific concepts being delivered.

A series of 5 giant jigsaws have been constructed, which carry the theme of natural cycles in a fun and creative way.

How have the resources been shared and who with?

The session plans and supporting materials will be made available to the OLW community through the OLW website, and in hard copy as a set of laminated resources to be stored at the Dyfi OLW Forestry hub.

These resources have also been made available internationally through the RWL network.

The giant jigsaws will be made available to support outdoor projects run by OLW group members.

Provide details of how the project raised awareness of OLW, locally and/or nationally (e.g. was there an opportunity for a press release?)

The project has raised awareness of OLW through its close association with the RWL network. The project has been a pilot for the RWL thinking, and as such its funding through OLW has been mentioned at important meetings on an international level, as well as in the detailed report written up for RWL.

On a smaller scale, the funding of this project through OLW has been mentioned throughout the local home-educating community.

Outputs

Actual numbersNumber of settings / schools / groups who participated in the project1Number of pre-school groups involved

0Number of pre-school children involved

9Number of primary schools involved

0Number of primary school children involved

0Number of secondary schools involved

0Number of secondary school children involved0Number of Tertiary settings involved0Number of tertiary students involved

0Number of community groups and organisations involved

1Number and age range of community groups and organisations participants involved

14 age 6 10

6 age 11 - 14

Number of teachers involved

0Number of volunteers involved

7How many individuals are from ethnic minority backgrounds?

0How many individuals are disabled?

None severely disabled, although by its nature the group has a high proportion of children with diagnosed and undiagnosed conditions such as CAH, hypermobility and learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

Evaluation

Give details of the success (or lack) of the project. How did you measure this?

Did the project change from the original plan?

What worked well, what would you have done differently, what elements made it successful?

Was the project good value for money?

What advice would you give to another network group trying to replicate this project?

The overall success of this project was measured in three ways:

Firstly, an ongoing evaluation which took place on site immediately after each session, and to which all practitioners and volunteers were invited, and results from which were fed into the following session;

Secondly, an extensive discussion between all the practitioners and volunteers at the conclusion of the project, which used a formal structure of discussion along with dixit cards in order to evaluate the success of the project, and inform best practice to inform further projects.

Thirdly, there was a continuous request for parental feedback on the project.

In this short account it is important to note that the ethos of RWL was very much a part of the formal evaluations. Those discussions at the end of sessions took as a starting point the hand model (Values, Understanding, Transferability, Experience, Empowerment) with its Frame.

Beginning with the Frame (the concept which holds together the five keys areas of learning, which for SinC was All taking requires giving back). The frame was agreed to have been a most useful tool for developing session activities, and for binding the project together. I think it is revealing that by the conclusion of the project an alternative wording had been agreed: Maintaining balance means to give and to take back the project had influenced its leaders to choose less aggressive terms with which to express the essential nature of sustainability!

Values, Understanding, Transferability, Experience and Empowerment: of these key aims of the project ideology, understanding was the strongest and most easily facilitated by all the practitioners and volunteers who joined the project. It provided the key to planning activities, and also the task for facilitators themselves, whose job it was to research the relevant scientific knowledge. For the KS 3 group, there was desire to explore traditional reductionist study, and an interesting bi-product of this was to compare and contrast with holistic methods later in the project. For the youngest groups, understanding was the key aim, but achieved very much through the experiential and transference facets of the hand-model.

Experience covers both the experience of the sessions for the learners, and the combined varied experiences and expertise of the facilitators who came together; in fact, the exciting mix of different backgrounds science, art, theatre, forest school brought the project together in a unique and creative way, which greatly enhanced the experiential learning potential for all those involved.

Values, transferability and empowerment I have grouped these aims together, because, in a short brief such as this, it is almost impossible to treat them each in isolation. Transferability and empowerment were both supported throughout the project, by scaffolding-type questions and comparisons between natural use and re-use of resources, and through an emphasis on self-directed learning. The success of the transferability aspect is difficult to measure this quote from feedback received from one of our KS3 students is telling:

Ive recognised that this way of learning has helped me think much more outwardly. I dont think the actual revelation moments have tended to be at the sessions, its been while Ive been outside and something that had connected in the session would then connect with something that happened in my life.

Intrinsic values themselves were supported through discussion and comparison between the natural cycles and sustainable and non-sustainable methods of harvesting resources used by humans, and also by ethic discussions on how we respect and replace organisms that we have examined during the sessions.

The overall aim of sustainable, ethical thinking in the young minds of our participants was not measured on an observational level, and knowing the backgrounds of our youngsters I would say that the project has been an out and out success, but for another project, I would recommend feedback sessions with the youngsters themselves, using dixit cards or other fun, creative methods.

Please return this form to your National OLW Co-ordinator by email outdoorlearningwales@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk

Please also send a copy to the OLW Grant Scheme Manager

rachel.lucas@field-studies-council.org)

Where possible information provided will be made available on the website.

If there is any part of the report you wish to keep confidential please make this clear.