Welcome to the Learning & School Effectiveness Service Website

Grants for School Ground Developments (UK)

The British Ecological Society (BES) provides grants of up to £1,000 to support initiatives that promotes the development of school grounds for the teaching of Ecology in an outdoor setting. The funding is available towards such activities as for example of building a school pond or developing a nature reserve within the school grounds. The BES would like to promote the use of ecological areas within the wider communities and would hope that schools do not restrict their projects to specific year groups or keystages. Applications which can show greater commitment to the wider community are more likely to succeed. In addition the BES is willing to part fund larger projects which have already received funding from other sources. There are three application deadlines per year; the 31st January; 30th April and the 30th September.

www.britishecologicalsociety.org/articles/grants/education/EEG
 

The Green Gym

Green Gyms offer a unique opportunity for children to get some exercise in the outdoors by taking part in environmental activities. With an emphasis on teamwork and achievable goals, the Green Gym is a proven way to improve health and well-being.

Activities may include creating a wildlife garden in the school grounds, planting trees, or growing fruit and vegetables.

The Green Gym can help keep children happy and healthy.  It provides physical activity which can help build a healthy heart, develop strong muscles and bones and may help reduce the risk of some chronic diseases in later life.  Being in the natural environment is proven to reduce anxiety and stress.  The Green Gym also provides opportunities for learning about the environment and citizenship which can be linked to the school curriculum.

There are over 70 Green Gyms currently running across the UK, developed by BTCV with support from local primary care trusts or local authorities.  With ‘inspiring people, improving places’ as it’s ethos, BTCV is the UK’s leading practical conservation charity.   BTCV launched the Green Gym for schools in 2006.

For further information on the Green Gym and the Green Gym Criteria, please click on the links provided or for more information on Green Gyms generally, visit: www.btcv.org.uk/greengym

Click the link provided to download the Healthy Schools Wall Planner

S3 Sustainable School Self-Evaluation for Primary, Middle and Secondary Schools

Schools currently are required to evaluate their school
improvement progress using a self-evaluation form (SEF)
developed by Ofsted (2005). This sustainable school self-evaluation
(s3) provides schools with a voluntary way to record
and report their efforts to promote sustainable schools, as an
integrated part of their Ofsted SEF. For some schools, parts of
s3 may be pasted directly into the relevant Ofsted SEF sections.

Click on the link provided to download a copy of the DfES                      S3 Sustainable School Self-Evaluation document.

Click on the link provided to download further information on     Friendship Friday - 25 May 2007 and the Friendship Day flyer.