12:22pm Tuesday 2nd February 2010
The Countryside Code Education Pack is now online – bringing the much-loved Creature Comforts™ characters, created by the Academy award-winning animation company Aardman Animations, into classrooms across Wales.
The bilingual resource brings the educational benefits of outdoor learning within easy reach of teachers and their pupils – just go to www.country sidecodewales.org.uk.
It is designed to encourage enthusiasm and respect for the environment as children learn about the outdoors, whether in the school grounds, a local green space or on a field-trip.
The Creature Comforts™ characters, used throughout the materials, bring the issues alive with humour, motivating children and young people to discover more.
There’s the sheepdog recounting the distress caused to wildlife by owners not keeping dogs on leads; the horse encouraging us to ‘be prepared’ and the seagulls reminding us to treat the countryside as you would your home.
The pack includes teachers’ guidance, at-a-glance curriculum grid, image library, video clips, and a set of well-structured activities for each age group from three to 14 year olds.
CCW recreation officer Rachel Parry said: “The pack is designed to inspire a lifelong interest in and respect for the outdoors. Based on the key Countryside Code message, Respect Protect Enjoy, children and young people are encouraged to take responsibility for the environment, including the wider countryside and to discover, experience and value its riches first hand.
“The new curriculum, with its increased emphasis on learning outside the classroom, creates a great opportunity to promote the outdoor environment to young people. We hope teachers and outdoor leaders who use the pack will post their ideas for how to develop the resource on the website.”
Organising out-of-classroom learning is sometimes challenging for teachers.
This high quality ‘off-the-shelf’ resource significantly reduces preparation time and provides guidance on issues related to safety.
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