Every child's future matters
Written by Sue Schulze, Education Manager North York Moors National Park Authority
S.Schulze@northyorkmoors-npa.gov.uk
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The Environment Matters to Everyone
Those with a professional interest in education will be aware of Every Child Matters (ECM), a government document providing guidance for local authorities on how to ensure five outcomes for every child - to be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well being. All schools and children’s services are now working with these outcomes in mind. However a new report published in August 2007 entitled Every Child’s Future Matters, highlights ‘the near absence’ of an environment focus within ECM and suggests that it may not be possible to deliver the full potential of ECM unless the environment becomes one of its leading considerations. This report was produced for the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) by the Sustainable Development Commission who consulted with nine local authorities and commissioned research by the New Economics Foundation and the University of York. Below is a snapshot of some of the research presented in the report:
- Even small amounts of green space are shown to have qualities that facilitate relaxation and recovery from mental fatigue and stress.
- Children spending time playing in natural areas experience adventure and risk taking as well as developing self-confidence, social skills and respect for the value of nature.
- Experiencing nature first hand as a child supports understanding and care for the environment with important positive effects on their behaviour as adults.
- Children as young as three can benefit from learning about the environment – within the environment. Schools using the Danish environmental education programme ‘Forest Schools’, report significant improvements in children’s vocabulary, communication skills and team working skills.
- A review of outdoor education, including school grounds projects, found benefits in areas such as children’s confidence, autonomy and coping.
But of course we knew that!
The report suggests a number of actions that might be taken by government to develop the environmental dimension of children’s policy. The top three priorities are:
- Road traffic – reduce pollution, noise and safety problems and aim for safe and healthy freedom of movement of people across communities;
- Green space – improve pedestrian access to quality green space, including natural habitats;
- Climate change – screen all policies and initiatives put forward by government and public service providers for their contribution to sustainable development and challenge any that cannot be accomplished within environmental limits.
The report also suggests several new key judgements incorporating sustainable development principles which could be used to evaluate the progress of ECM including “Children’s sense of connectedness to (and understanding of) the natural world”.
If we class ourselves as a delivery partner for ECM (a public service experienced by large numbers of children and families), the report suggests we should be ‘setting an example to our staff, customers and wider stakeholders by running sustainable operations that promote sustainable ways of living and working to our local communities.’
Clearly the work we are all doing ties in beautifully with the sentiments of Every Child’s Future Matters. The UK National Park Educators’ Group is also working at a national level to help take forward initiatives through the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto to encourage teachers to take children out of schools, but even with all this, there is still not a sniff of an entitlement, not even a recommendation, for every child in Britain to experience a national park or a protected area at some point in their school career.
Is this what we want to be working towards? If so, now is a great time to be shouting it from the rooftops.
