Scotland Insights

The state of childhood and the biological state of the nation are both in crisis. Intervention by everyone is required to reverse these conditions to deliver cultural change, including the health and economic performance of our country.

Society’s ability to influence our culture is limited but for too long the opportunities afforded to child development in their time outside the classroom has been largely ignored. In Scotland the 2,443 schools occupy 11,730 acres of land accessed by 702,428 young people.

School grounds should be regarded as the ‘National Parks’ of our towns and cities. They form a vital part of the learning infrastructure and yet the potential of these places have yet to be fully recognised. Delivering multi-functional outcomes can transform the lives of young people, including:

· Experiential learning where 80% of the National Curriculum can be taught outside.

· Formal sports and active play leading to the health of mind and body.

· Places for risk taking, creative play and social development, where you can make friends for life. Reversing the drop in attendance levels.

· Securing the restoration of wildlife and connecting every young person to nature.

· To empower young people to build resilience to climate change

· Building a foundation for social stability by integrating the rich variety of cultures coming together in our country.

· Reversing the causes of violence permeating throughout education today.

· Equipping young people with the skills to grow food.

· Improving attitudes to learning and to valuable teaching staff.

· Improving the lives of teachers to secure teacher retention.

For too many young people the only time they spend outside is in the school grounds. Empowering teachers and school communities to develop School Grounds Master Plans involving the creative imagination of young people should be actively encouraged.

A call for action – We need to modernising School Premises Regulations, developing a joint national vision for school grounds, promoting the case for change with education authorities and empowering school communities to pursue multi-functional outcomes to their school grounds. Consider rebalancing the management of the school day and build a long term investment fund.