Strathclyde Park Outdoor Education Programme
North Lanarkshire Council · 28 February 2023
Back to Education, Children and Families Committee — 28 February 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children & Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref GM/HL Date 28/02/23 PO25.1 – Strathclyde Park Outdoor Education Programme From Gerard McLaughlin, Chief Officer of Education (North) E-mail liddleh@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07973726496 Executive Summary Following on from the pilot of outdoor activities for Primary 7 pupils at Strathclyde Park and creation of a new outdoor shelter for education and events, this report will update on plans to explore the future upscaling of the programme. The report provides an update on the increased number of participants and the range of activities now available to young people. Finally, the report highlights the assistance available to pupils and schools to ensure all young people can participate. Recommendations It is proposed that the Education, Children and Families Committee: (1) Note development of the programme at Strathclyde Country Park and the ongoing increase in schools participating. (2) Endorse the ongoing development of the programme as outlined in paragraph 2.5. (3) otherwise, endorse the contents of the report. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Support all children and young people to realise their full potential Ambition statement (10) Engage with children, young people, parents, carers, and families to help all children and young people reach their full potential
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1. Background 1.1 Following the closure of Kilbowie Outdoor Education Centre in early 2020, an outdoor education programme was launched in August 2020 at Strathclyde Country Park (SCP), offering a 5 day experience for all P7 pupils in North Lanarkshire. Initially, the programme was piloted with 1 school per week from August to December 2020, to comply with COVID guidelines at that time. 29 schools participated in the programme during the first year. 1.2 The programme offered free activity weeks for vulnerable pupils and pupils from ASN schools during the period, January to March 2021, when schools were closed to most pupils. The Primary 7 pilot programme resumed from April to June 2021, with an average of 39 pupils per week. With the programme now back to full operation and the ongoing development of the experience, outlined below, 111 schools, including ASN establishments, are booked to take part in the programme during 2022/23 academic year. 1.3 The costs of Outdoor Education can be met with PEF money, fundraising and parental contributions. Schools ensure no-one cannot attend due to cost. We encourage all schools to bring all pupils, even where the school may have concerns over behaviour. Activities on offer at SCP, offer curricular enrichment which augments school-based activity for outdoor education. 2. Report 2.1 The programme at SCP is led by a team of staff formerly employed within Active Schools, supported by a team of coaches. On average, 70 young people from 2-3 schools attending the programme each week, taking part in a range of activities including: • Bikeability, giving every pupil the chance to reach level where they can cycle safely on the roads. • Orienteering, starting from the new Rainbow shelter co designed with pupils. • Watersports activities on fun boats in the loch, supported by the parks stewarding team. • Bushcraft and environmental education. • Rowing sessions delivered in partnership with Scottish Rowing, giving pupils the unique chance to have experience this sport and receive tuition from high level coaches. • Highland Games • Team building • Archery 2.2 Since the launch of the programme, the council has invested in development at the Watersports Centre to support the ongoing development of the programme, with an area set aside for the for pupils to eat lunch, changing rooms, a drying area, laundrette facilities and office space. 2.3 The activities on offer at the park have also developed significantly since 2020. This has included the introduction of the climbing wall and rowing activities with Scottish Rowing who are based at the park. 2.4 Finally, the opportunities available at the Outdoor Education Programme have also allowed us to continue to support the development of young people in schools and in further/higher education. During 2021/22, this included support to the council’s
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Pathways programme, provision of work experience placements and supporting higher education placements through New College Lanarkshire and University of Strathclyde. We continue to support and develop our programme for Virtual Schools. This has continued to be a focus in 2022/23 with more placements available for pupils and students. 2.5 Looking to the future, we continue to focus on development of the services on offer at the Park to support our young people in achieving their full potential. Over the last few months, Active & Creative Communities, including Active Schools, have been working closely with sportscotland to support overall development of our services, including our provision of Outdoor Education. We have had excellent feedback from sportscotland who are keen to support the council to continue to develop our facilities at SCP and the opportunities available through our outdoor education programme. We are keen to consider how we may use our programme to enhance the ASN holiday hub offer and will look to pilot this approach during 2023/24. We continue to develop provision at the park with feedback from pupils, parents and teachers. 2.6 Financial Position 2.6.1 As highlighted above, 93% of schools are participating in the programme at SCP during 2022-23, with available slots now offered to secondary schools who have expressed an interest in attending. Schools have an option to access external provision through an approved council framework which allows for access to similar facilities, some of which may include residential options. The cost of such is options is approximately £350-400 per person – significantly more expensive for schools using this option. 2.6.2 The overall cost of the programme at SCP is supported by core council funding of approximately £600,000, supported by a Bikeability grant of £19,390, with total delivery costs of approximately £1,000,020. This shortfall is managed with payments made by pupils for the cost of each activity week. The per head cost is £112. To ensure all pupils can participate and cost is not a barrier for parents, schools are able to use Pupil Equity Funding, Scottish Equity Fund monies, fundraising or parental contributions. No young person has missed out on the experience due to cost and schools use their awareness of circumstances to ensure appropriate support is offered. 3. Measures of success 3.1 A continued growth in the number of young people participating in activities at Strathclyde Country Park. 3.2 A cost effective and inclusive programme which provides young people with the opportunity to experience a range of outdoor activities, supporting physical and mental health and wellbeing. 4. Supporting Documentation Gerard McLaughlin Chief Officer (Education - North)
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality-and-fairer- scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Financial Solutions? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Ongoing development of the programme need to be managed within the financial envelope available and in consideration to affordability. Any developments with financial implications are fully considered with Financial Solutions. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People and Organisational Development? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic Solutions? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐
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5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for technology, has an assessment been carried out (or scheduled) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? The ACC Risk Register comprehensively covers all project/programme risks and is managed appropriately. Rising costs, including transport costs, present a potential risk to the future of the programme and the team is working with Finance colleagues to ensure the council is able to offer a financial sustainable and constructive programme for young people. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s? Yes No X If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services.