Overview: the premise of this course is that in order to address the Global challenges that our children inherent, nature connection, stories of the past, and sustainable living skills are positive ways to focus on solutions. This approach is the most appropriate at primary school level and has many educational benefits inherent in the learning environment and relevant course content.
Day 1. Present: Nature Connection
· Junior Naturalist: using observation skills to explore nature wherever we find it in the urban or rural environment, identification and drawings from nature, mini-beasts, plants, trees, birds, mammals, frogs.
· Exploring nature: games and songs, nature as a cooperative system, cooperative games.
· Understanding and creating mini- ecosystems and diverse micro-habitats in the school grounds: woodland, grassland, ponds and edges, patterns in nature.
Day 2.Past: Irish Heritage
· Pre-fossil fuel sustainable local communities: challenges and successes. Living in the landscape.
· Place based learning, geology: the rocks underneath us, reading the landscape.
· Archaeological digs, settlement patterns, ethno-botany.
· Foraging abundance in nature
Day 3. Present: Organic Gardening
· Planning or improving the school garden
· Term by term growing and other tasks
· Linking the garden with biodiversity and other habitats
· Introduction to soil, compost, plants, seeds.
· Classroom experiments.
Day 4. Present: Organic Gardening cont:
· What to do with the harvest.
· Principles of Processing and Preserving (Good and bad Bacteria)
· Local Livelihoods connecting with community businesses.
Day 5. Future Sustainable Skills
· Re-localizing, local resource use.
· Materials for sustainable living, craft use of willow, small dimension timber, stone, wool, mud.
Re-purposing, up-cycling, DIY, green and natural building and craft work.
The booking fee is non-refundable. All Summer Courses qualify for EPV days provided you complete the full course over 5 days. Blackrock Education Centre has the right to cancel a course if we DO NOT have the minimum numbers required.