Local Activities

	Schools in the East Midlands recognise, value and implement global perspectives as a core element of the educational entitlement of young people.

Local Activities Rutland

Amy Butterworth Fernandes is the Sustainability Education Coordinator for Rutland.

Rutland's Sustainable Schools Showcase

On 3 December Rohini and Annette staffed an EMNGPS stand and ran a Global Dimension workshop at the Rutland's Sustainable Schools Showcase (SSS) event in Oakham.

The purpose of the event was to bring together pupils and staff from Rutland primary and secondary schools and colleges with a range of providers eg, Local Authority staff and local, regional and national organisations who could help schools implement the Sustainable Schools Framework - see website

Barbara chatting with primary school teacher

There were 33 exhibitors providing information about all 8 doorways:

Buildings and Grounds
Food and Drink
Local Well-Being
Purchasing and Waste
Travel and Traffic
Inclusion and Participation
Energy and Water
Global Dimension

There were also 20 workshops on all aspects of the above doorways. Throughout the day there were also performances eg, of school eco-songs and of a variety of instruments made from recycled materials.

At the end of the day each school was given a goody box with a range of eco gifts including a tree sapling, a globe, bird feeders, recycling information, teacer resources etc

The SSS event was organised to be environmentally friendly in order to minimise the carbon footprint. Car-sharing was encouraged and Freewatt Renewable Energy calculated te CO2 emissions of the event . Schools and colleges were encouraged to plant tree saplings as a way of carbon off-setting.

The event was organised by Amy Butterworth-Fernandes with help from colleagues at Studentforce for Sustainability and was a huge success for all involved. It enabled EMNGPS to network with a variety of partners.

Rutland Sustainable Schools Steering Group Meeting 3
On Thursday, 15th October 2009 Rohini Corfield joined 18 teachers, Headteachers, Local Authority Officers and NGO staff at the above meeting. The agenda included: Update since SGM 2, Amy Butterworth Fernandes, StudentForce for Sustainability and planning for the Rutland Showcase Event on 3 December 2009: Schools and organisations attending Workshops Programme Pledges Letters to parents/guardians: photos/film, tasters, press Transport Global Dimension: School Linking, Sue Schirmer Introduction to Link Community Development - see www.lcdinternational.org Overview of Link Schools Programme and how we can support school partnerships Benefits of international school partnerships, examples and case studies Discussion, questions and answers Purchasing & Waste presentation and discussion: Emma Hattersley, Rutland County Council Rutland County Council Waste and Recycling Collections for schools Introduction to Rutland County Council Waste Services How the collection system works What materials can be accepted for recycling What happens to the materials once they are collected Discussion, questions and answers The group supports Rutland's schools in implementing the Sustainable Schools framework.
Rutland Locality Group Meeting On 22 September Amy Butterworth-Fernandes facilitated the second Rutland Locality Group meeting which had a focus on the Energy and Water doorway of the Sustainable Schools framework.
19 people, including Rutland County Council officers, Head/ teachers and staff from NGOs met to:- discuss plans for the Rutland Showcase event in December 2009 share school progress on the Sustainable Schools work- eg, Eco school assemblies, after school clubs with the Woodland Trust, school composting, energy saving lighting, growing vegetables hear a presentation from the Council's Energy Officer learn about information available about reducing energy usage from the Carbon Trust try an Energy and Water Quiz learn about the BIG SWITCH OFF campaign www.leics.gov.uk/bigswitchoff share ideas and challenges with peers Feedback showed all had found some parts of the meeting stimulating and challenging.

Rutland Sustainable Schools Steering Group Meeting

On 13 July, 23 teachers, Local Authority Officers and staff from NGOs met at Langham CE Primary school for this meeting. The agenda included:-

An introduction to the DCSF's Sustainable Schools framework and Rutland Local Authority's plans to support schools in making progress on implementing this framework and the Eco-Schools Award by Gemma Astin and Amy Butterworth Fernandes.
A presentation by Langham CE Primary School about their Green Flag status, awarded as part of the Eco Schools scheme - in which they shared how pupils were involved, challenges faced and how they were overcome.
An interactive input by Rohini Corfield about the Global Dimension and the eight key concepts - see www.globaldimension.org.uk.
A workshop session based on Reading International Solidarity Centre's booklet Measuring Attutudional Change - see www.risc.org.uk
Discussion about Rutland-wide involvement in the Big Tidy up initiative.

Rutlands Sustainable Schools

Gemma Astin has just completed a baseline study of Rutland Schools mapping what work they have done on Sustainable Schools, Eco-schools and the International School Award. The report also identifies areas where schools need further support eg, the Global Dimension. This report will be used to scope the work of a Studentforce worker, Amy, who will work with Rutland schools on Sustainability and the Global Dimension until November 2009, helping Rutland County Council deliver its Global Dimension action plan.

Progress in Education for Sustainable Development, Global Awareness and International Links Education. Rutland County Council

On 2nd July 2008 the first Authority-wide conference in Education for Sustainable Development, Global Awareness and International Links Education took place at Casterton Business and Enterprise College. More than half of all schools and colleges in the Authority attended, including a significant proportion of headteachers and senior leaders. The event was facilitated by key partners in the field, including Rohini Corfield, Helen Trilling and Barbara Smith and was extremely successful.

Outcomes from the conference included the establishment of a Rutland Locality Group, the first meeting is planned for September/October 2008, and on a very positive note, all participants at the event expressed an interest in becoming members of this group and a school put itself forward as a further case study school for the SWG website.

The initial agenda the Locality Group was interested in exploring, included networking good practice, exploring multicultural/anti-racist education in the context of Rutland, establishing a school linking programme for international work and considering a CPD programme around the doorways to sustainability.

Rutland County Council has plans to make schools aware of the International School Award. Please visit www.rutlandcountycouncil.org for more information.

Global Dimension Network

There are plans to establish a Global Dimension Network for teachers to share ideas about embedding a global perspective across the curriculum. For more information, contact Phil Smith.