Learning for Sustainability Lead, Sophia Georgescu, and Project Worker, Katie Logie, share this update highlighting the work being developed through Learning for Sustainability Phase 2.
The P5’s favourite moment and activity was making their participation cakes because they got to design a world of their own that included qualities they thought were important, like kindness and inclusion
Members of Children’s Parliament, Edinburgh
Last summer, Katie and I were asked by Scottish Government to return to participating schools following the success of our first Learning for Sustainability project. This time, adult decision-makers are asking us to support children to participate in the Learning for Sustainability (LfS) Leadership Group run by Scottish Government. The children have an important job sharing with adults what, how, and why the new LfS Action Plan should be made real in schools across Scotland through Children’s Parliament sessions over the next six months. The Action Plan sketches out a guide for educators across communities, schools, and nurseries to ensure all children in Scotland have an LfS education that tackles the climate emergency in ways that meet their human rights.
Children’s Parliament is delighted that children have been invited back to the project by decision-makers. Too often, children are asked by adults to participate only once in short-term decisions and consultations. Our dream is for children to always be supported to participate in decisions that are important to them. Working to make this dream a reality is especially important in light of the UNCRC Incorporation Bill being passed in Scottish Parliament last week after years of hard work by children’s human rights defenders.
We added the UNCRC to our participation cake because [we] want to be in a community that respects children
Member of Children’s Parliament, aged 10, Edinburgh
This autumn, Katie and I visited Sciennes and Forgandenny for full-day workshops. Using games and creative activities, we explored children’s rights to education, participation, and healthy and safe environments. We were kindly supported by our brilliant Reporter team, who are our former P7 Investigators from Phase One. They interviewed the P5’s during the workshop to create our ongoing project newsletter, used to write this blog.
Key messages that the children wanted to share with adults during our activities were that their learning environments should be calm, creative, and outside wherever possible. For them to participate in decisions made about their learning, they shared their need for kindness, fun, and child-friendliness.
These are lessons that we welcome adults who work across Learning for Sustainability to take forward into their practice. As we work with our two schools across two more workshops, Mission activities and our smaller Investigator group for two more online calls over the next six months, our hope is to model children’s participation in how, what, and why they learn about pressing issues through Learning for Sustainability. The children’s key messages to adults will be fed back to the LfS Leadership Group, culminating in the Investigator’s participation in a Leadership Group meeting and knowledge exchange event with key adults next spring.
With thanks to our wonderful Members of Children’s Parliament and teachers at Sciennes Primary School (Edinburgh) and Forgandenny Primary School (Perthshire) and the Scottish Government Learning and Curriculum Unit. You have made it possible for us to launch the second phase of our Learning for Sustainability project.
A special thank-you to Krithi, Maddy, Toby and Gordon, our brilliant Member of Children’s Parliament Reporter team at Sciennes Primary School, Edinburgh. We appreciated your journalist skills, which were used to help write this project blog.
If you have any questions, or if you would like to find out more about our Learning for Sustainability work, email Sophia Georgescu, Project Worker, at sophia@childrensparliament.org.uk and follow Children’s Parliament’s Twitter account @creative_voices.