Outdoor Classroom | For Ireland

Primary

Areas of the curriculum that you could cover include:

Social, environmental and scientific education.
Mathematics
Visual Arts
English
Physical Education
Social, personal and health education
Information and Communication Technologies

Social, environmental and scientific education.

Sciences

From the four strands of the curriculum we can best help you cover the themes of

• Living things: Human life, Plants / animal life
• Environmental awareness and care: Environmental awareness, Science and the environment, caring for the environment.

The curriculum asks for students to work through practical investigation. To investigate and explore their physical and natural surroundings. This should be through the fundamental skills of enquiry that include: observing, asking questions, suggesting explanations, predicting outcomes and planning investigations to test ideas. All of these are central to any FSC courses.

Geography

The strands of the geography curriculum are

• Human environments
• Natural Environments
• Environmental awareness

Skills to be fostered include A sense of place and space, Maps globes and other graphical skills and Geographical Investigation skills.

FSC courses provide opportunities as is required in the curriculum for the development and application of scientific investigative skills in geography especially in the study of local environments. Promote reading, use and construction of maps through units of work on natural, human and environmental themes.
Provides for the systematic development of graphical skills: use of graphs, charts, globes, atlases, photographs and electronic images.

Mathematics

The five strands of the curriculum are

• Number
• Algebra
• Shape and space
• Measures
• Data

The development of the skills of estimation and problem solving should be fostered through hands on experience and real – life experiences. Real life is always best dealt with outside the familiar confine of the classroom.

It is hoped that this emphasis will make mathematics more relevant and meaningful to students so that they can learn to enjoy their mathematical experiences.

Visual Arts

The major strands to the arts curriculum are

• Drawing
• Paint and colour
• Print
• Clay
• Construction
• Fabric and fibre

The vital starting points for arts activities in the FSC will be observation, imagination, and the students own experience.

English

This curriculum is structured to offer students a total language experience in which oral language, reading and writing are fully integrated.

Physical Education

Of the six themes in this curriculum the centres are best suited to offering opportunities in the Outdoor and adventure activities.

The outdoor and adventure activities is a new and exciting aspect of the curriculum. In particular enjoyment of water based activities is promoted. The curriculum stresses the importance of play in the development of competence in the water.

The physical education curriculum provides a framework for encouraging students to pursue healthy life styles and to develop positive attitudes towards physical activity.

Social, personal and health education

The SPFE curriculum fosters in students respect for their own dignity and that of others. SPFE has a moral and spiritual dimension.

SPHE encourages active participation in a wide range of activities so that students become responsible for their own learning. Importantly also that they are able to apply what they have learned in a variety of situations to their own lives.

The residential experience is a key way of developing SPFE. Students are put in a new environment and expected to a degree to be responsible for their own actions.

The FSC experience can help develop the themes of SPHE.
They help to develop confidence and responsibility. Working in teams students are required to take an active part in the work, trust fellow team mates and this helps to develop and build self esteem.

They are required to develop social skills as they live for extended periods of time with their class mates. They cannot rely on parents but on themselves and their friends.

Information and Communication Technologies

Information and communication technologies provide schools with a powerful and highly motivating resource which can enhance learning in all areas of the curriculum. Computers are highly graphic and interactive. Students enjoy learning with computers so motivation is high. Both centres can offer full integration of other subjects with ICT.