Half an hour after the above photo was taken, the six people in it were engaged in an altogether stranger activity than the shelter-building depicted here. Blindfolded and with arms outstretched to avoid walking face-first into trees, they listened for the noises their friends were making: the baa-ing of a sheep, loud human coughing or clapping, the high-pitched cry of an as-yet-unidentified species of tropical bird. This, believe it or not, was an educational activity, with Learning Outcomes benchmarked at SCQF Level 4, forming part of our very own Employability Award in the Outdoors (see here). The group are on a six-month programme with Central Scotland Green Network at Palacerigg Country Park near Cumbernauld, and the activity was called “Sheep and Shepherd” (don’t worry, the communication and teamwork skills it encompasses have relevance beyond the sheep-herding profession). They all have four more of these sessions to look forward to, and they’ve shown an admirable willingness to participate so far.
That day was a highlight of the last couple months for me, but it’s just one of many things I’ve been up to. Further highlights? Well, probably helping with this research project into child-led play at Edinburgh’s Botanical Gardens; digging up worms (which there are twenty-seven species of in the UK, apparently, but of course you knew that…) at the Kelvingrove Bioblitz event hosted by the RSPB; meeting our new Coastal Communities group – who’ll be with us for the next year; and starting my Level 3 Forest School leader training with these guys. Soon, I’ll be running two residentials, continuing to develop a new funding proposal, helping out with more Employability Award sessions at Palacerigg, and running the John Muir Award at our Jupiter wildlife garden.
It’s shaping up to be an action-packed summer…