Sustainability: Part 5 - Getting everybody involved

Children are more aware of the wider world than ever before. But while they may be more worldly in some ways, there is increasing concern that children today are physically interacting with it less, in favour of gaining knowledge through a screen.

Thus it is all the more important that, as is specified in the EYFS, activities involve experiences for children that ignite curiosity and develop confidence and ideas. The specific area of Understanding the World states that practitioners must guide “children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment”.

Of course, parents should be involved too – in fact, sustainability, within which lies the concept of ‘global citizenship’, involves the community outside the school gates, as The Cambridge Primary Review stated.

The following case studies demonstrate how practitioners can support children ‘to make sense’, utilising both community and family to empower children as critical thinkers to take action to support sustainable living.

CASE STUDY: BUG HOTELS

Second-year students at Liverpool John Moores University took part in a project to create bug hotels across eight early years settings, which included a day nursery, pre-schools and a Reception class, across the Wirral and Liverpool. The idea was to consider how they could encourage children to learn holistically and how the project embedded an authentic recognition of the children’s ‘voice’.

Equipped with A3 art pads, which were used as ‘thinking books’ to capture emerging ideas and help make sense of children’s ideas, the students invited the children to develop their ideas socially, through focused discussion, storytelling, painting and other creative opportunities.

The students also read bug stories and utilised small-world bug play, and held drama, dance and movement activities, with Rimsky-Korsakov’sFlight of the Bumblebee used to develop their imagination and physicality through music.

Children were encouraged to revisit ideas in different contexts, reflecting the effective early years practice noted within cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner’s ‘spiral curriculum’. Students were reminded to listen carefully to the children’s ideas and not to dismiss them – after all, the ideas were rooted in each child’s own socio –cultural context.

Young children decided where to situate their bug hotel, which bugs might be attracted and how they could monitor the mini beast ‘traffic’. The children researched using books and technology (iPads, computers and cameras), and discussions supported the extension of their vocabulary, such as ‘under/on the earth’, ‘flying’, ‘hiding’ and ‘burrowing’.

‘Scavenged’ materials included wooden pallets, cardboard tubes and environmentally friendly building blocks and bricks from local fabric and building companies. The settings also liaised with parents and carers to source materials, which created opportunities for more conversations about the project, with settings including it in their newsletter.

CASE STUDY: PARENT INVOLVEMENT

Milford Pre-School Plus in Hampshire has completed the Green Flag awards from Eco Schools and the RHS School Gardening Award, which requires embracing the concept of community and family engagement.

Families are able to come and work in the nursery allotment during a series of sessions held through the year on Sundays. Parents have been involved in building raised beds for the allotment, for example.

The pre-school is also part of the national Open Gardens scheme, which means the public can visit the setting’s garden and allotment during certain weekends.

Sarah Rix, pre-school supervisor, says, ‘It is essential to listen to children’s voices so that they can identify areas of concern and, through sustained shared thinking, find possible solutions.

‘During one discussion we had with them, children pointed out that they were using plastic bags on a daily basis for their packed lunch, and suggested that boxes would be better. So we bought reusable lunch boxes for every child so that they could minimise waste.’

Through this, she added, the children were able to see how their ideas for sustainable action had come to fruition and made a real difference in reducing waste.