A Journey to the Heart of Place

Two years ago I blogged about the Drove Roads Journey which I had planned to undertake. Sadly, owing to unforeseen circumstances the event was postponed. And it's now happening next week!

The purpose of the "mobile conference" is nicely phrased on the Spey Grian website: This journey will involve a diverse group of professional and amateur artists, ecologists, storytellers, historians and educators, some local and others from the Spey Grian Network. The group will travel from Newtonmore to Kirkmichael via Blair Atholl, accompanied by ponies and cattle, following the old driving and coffin roads. The route will include crossing the Minigaig Pass, an ancient drove road connecting Speyside to Atholl. I think it's the first time cattle will have been driven over this Pass in a century.

The theme of this event will be exploring how a road is more than a line of communication between places, but has a life of its own, with unique stories to tell, linking people, places and journeys over time - the journey itself linking across generations.

Recently I blogged about trails. For me this this trail making on a massive scale by comparison to school grounds creations. I've had to plan and prepare quite meticulously which I'm not used to. Much of what I do is flying by the seat of my pants stuff. I've had to "break in" my shoulders to carrying a load. There's been the organising seven days worth of food which I can carry. I've spent nights outside in my garden getting used to sleeping on turf! I've practised cooking on my stove.

Even then it's still a journey into the unknown. Other than one person, I don't know any of the others on the journey. We're coming together to share a brief moment in space, time and place. To live, learn and laugh together. To wonder how many other travellers have got blisters on their feet and become soaking wet over the hundreds of years of the road's existence. To have to go with the flow when it comes to moving the cattle, working the ponies and being in the company of strangers who are at present, friends I've yet to meet. To try and make sense of the chaotic and yet orderly world in which we live. To reflect and wonder.

And perhaps wonder is at the heart of this journey. I've had the words of Patrick Geddes ringing in my mind these past few weeks... "Star wonder, stone and spark-wonder, life-wonder and folk-wonder: these are the stuff of astronomy and physics, of biology and the social sciences... To appreciate sunset and sunrise, moon and stars, and the wonders of winds, clouds and rain, the beauty of the woods and moor and fields - here are the beginnings of the natural sciences... We need to give everyone the outlook of the artist, who begins with the art of seeing - and then in time we shall follow him in to the seeing of art, even the creating of it."

I'll be back in a bit.... Here's the official press release...

A Journey to the Heart of Place

Group to recreate drovers’ journey for the first time for over 100 years

Between the 30^th June and 7th July, a varied group of travellers will set off on a ‘Journey to the Heart of Place’ to recreate the journey of highland cattle drovers.  On the way they will make three stops for ‘Meet the Drovers’ events in Newtonmore (30^th June), Blair Atholl (4^th July) and Kirkmichael (7^th July). The droving journey is being organised by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in partnership with the SpeyGrian Educational Trust, with support from Perth & Kinross Countryside Trust.

Departing from the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore on Sunday 1^st July, a diverse group of artists, writers, crofters, ecologists, historians, geographers and educators will be re-enacting the highland cattle drove, travelling up Glen Feshie to a height of over 900 metres over the Minigaig Pass to Blair Atholl, and finally following the Cateran Trail to Kirkmichael - the site of a famous drovers tryst, or market. This group of drovers are the first to travel over the Minigaig Pass for over 100 years.  Cattle droving was once a vital part of Highland life, as highland soils are better suited to rearing cattle than crop growing. In the days before refrigeration the best way to keep meat fresh was to keep it alive! Drovers would drive these cattle long distances on foot, to sell in towns and cities with larger populations e.g. Lowland Scotland, England and Europe. Unlike other Highlanders at that time, the drovers were allowed to wear the plaid and carry weapons to protect themselves from ‘Caterans’ or cattle thieves.

During the modern day journey, the group will hold three ‘Meet the Drovers’ events in Newtonmore, Blair Atholl and Kirkmichael.  The first will take place at The Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore on Saturday 30^th June from 1pm until 5pm.  On Wednesday the 4^th of July the modern day drovers will call in at the Atholl Country Life Museum in Blair Atholl between 11am and 3pm, and the journey will come to its end in the Showfield in Kirkmichael on Saturday 7^th July between 11am and 3pm.

At each of the events the public will have the chance to meet the drovers & their ponies; discovering how they planned the route, their equipment and food and comparing this to drovers in the past.  A small but fascinating droving exhibition from the Dingwall Mart will be on display and Veritas Vincent, a historical re-inactment group, will be dressed as 18^th century drovers to show weapons and clothing of the time.

 Storyteller Claire Hewitt will share local folk and fairy stories, human journeys of endurance facing supernatural forces, cow and horse tales - stories the Drovers would have heard and told to pass the evening round the fire.

At the Blair Atholl and Kirkmichael events, basket-maker Jane Wilkinson will also be demonstrating how panniers were made for the ponies and there will be opportunities for the public to try working with willow. Additional activities and demonstrations e.g. milking of cattle and shoeing the ponies for the journey will be offered at the Highland Folk Museum venue in Newtonmore on 30^th June. Cattle will be taken on the first two days of the drove to Glenfeshie.

Everyone who takes part in the drove road journey will be invited to record their experiences in poems, writing, music, art, craft, and photography. This will be drawn together to form the Creative Journeys Exhibition which itself will go on a journey. Exhibition venues will include the communities of Newtonmore, Blair Atholl and Kirkmichael, and at the Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s Visitor Centre at the Fair Maid’s House in Perth.

Editors Notes

The 'Creative Journeys' initiative is planned to celebrate 'Year of Creative Scotland'.

The Royal Scottish Geographical Society is an educational charity that promotes an understanding of natural environments and human societies and how they interact. For further information about RSGS please call 01738 455050

SpeyGrian Educational Trust is a group of artists, writers, scientists and educators, united in their love of outdoor learning. They aim to provide a catalyst for change at both a personal and a national level by bringing new perspectives to the relationship we have with the natural world.

Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust is a registered environmental charity that provides, improves and promotes access to the countryside for walkers, cyclists, horseriders and canoeists. 

The event is also in association with Scottish Crofting Produce, Atholl Museum of Country Life, Newtonmore Riding Centre , The Highland Folk Museum and The Session House at Kirkmichael. 

Communities and Gardening

Photo copyright GABAT

There are many ways of building communities. Often it's small groups of committed people who have an idea, a vision, a dream that they quietly set about putting into practice. Through doing this, social capital is created and the wider community benefits.

One of the best examples of this which I've seen recently, is on the Island of Barra. Garadh a' Bhagh a Tuath (GABAT) is a local charitable horticultural project. Staffed by volunteers, it provides work experience for adults with support needs and a source of locally grown plants and produce to the residents of Barra, Vatersay and beyond.

The organisation is around ten years old. Over the years its site has grown and the amount of community work undertaken has increased. For example, the photo above show the planters that are about to be placed throughout the communities in Barra. In many areas, local authority staff undertake this task but on Barra, GABAT have stepped in to provide this service. 

The Barra churches all have floral displays provided by GABAT. The photos above and below show the planters and hanging baskets which have been created specifically to order for individuals who have requested them. They are extremely competitively priced. With no garden centre on the island, the GABAT volunteers provide a service that is appreciated by many.

The volunteers are very dedicated and experienced at using materials available locally on Barra and unwanted items for their gardening work. This makes a refreshing change from large-scale commercial practices. Below, leek seedlings are being planted out in cardboard tubes...

Visitors can pick up paper pot plants from as little as 10p each. I remember one village sale at Achnasheen where the children planted up around 300 plants and sold them too. So this is an enterprise activity that schools should remember, once they get going with gardening.

The paths around GABAT are a beautiful white colour. Upon closer examination, I could see that they were created from crushed shells and were ever so pretty. In such a sea-based community, shells can be found everywhere. The home-made compost was immediately identifiable by the shells scattered within  it.

I like the natural link this makes to the many beautiful beaches on Barra. Below is the immaculately maintained airport beach. It's the only beach landing strip in the whole of the British Isles. Connections to the land and sea are immensely important wherever one lives. No matter how hard we may try, the places in which we live leaves emotional attachments and memories. As Lawrence Durrell once said " We are children of our landscape; it dictates behaviour and even thought in the measure to which we are responsive to it."

Connections are made in other ways too. One of the workers at GABAT is a master drystane waller. He builds remarkable stone structures such as this well, using local stone from the island quarry.

His work is immaculate. In fact you can tell as you travel around the island which work has been undertaken with or by him. For example, in the wall below, you can see the perfect placement of each stone - and I believe this was a job undertaken with volunteers!

Rather than spending unnecessary money on mulch and fertiliser, the GABAT beds are mulched with gathered seaweed. Apparently it decomposes really quickly so usually around a depth of one foot is put down at a time...

The garden is a hive of activity all year round. Barra is a windy place so the polytunnels are super strong and about the poshest ones I've ever seen. 

The polytunnels are used for a range of purposes. Much of the potting and planting of tender seeds goes on inside the polytunnels. Lettuces and other greens are also grown for salad bags that are sold in local shops. Traditional greenhouse plants such as tomatoes and courgettes are raised here. You can see the strings hanging down to provide support for the tomatoes as they grow.

Naturally when the weather is inclement, it means that there's plenty of shelter. GABAT is being recognised for its expertise on the island, and workers are able to provide advice to other organisations including schools about how to make best use of a polytunnel and other practical aspects of gardening.

Below is a raised bed with an A-frame. I rather liked this structure. It is covered with polythene in the winter and used as a cold frame. Once the summer months arrive, the polythene is removed. The bed is at a useful working height for the adult volunteers, but a similar design could be created for children.

GABAT is constantly seeking sensible ways of saving money and reducing costs. The volunteers now collect seeds from established plants rather than buying them wherever possible. Cuttings are taken from plants and composting of waste plant material is part of the overall approach.

Best of all, is the use of fish boxes, pallets and bread crates as seen in the photo below. It's good to see another sector re-use these resources creatively. It makes me realise that milk crates will probably fit a certain size of flowerpot! It also demonstrates that gardening can be more than pretty perennial borders.

Before leaving Barra to begin the 12 hour journey home, I gathered a few shells of my own as a memory of my visit and the enterprising approach of GABAT. The west coast island shells are now living in an east coast whisky barrel as a mulch for my apple mint. The lavender bush and thyme I bought there have just been planted at the school where I work.

Finally I'd like to thank Barra Children's Centre for inviting me to work with GABAT and the local schools and nurseries on the island. It was an inspirational two days, not least because of the talent and skills of those who live there to take outdoor learning and play to higher levels. Partnerships between local organisations like GABAT and the education sector can reap wide benefits when skills, ideas and expertise are shared. If you are ever visiting Barra, you can have a lovely meal at the Children's Centre Cafe (with a community garden beside it as well as an indoor playspace) and remember to buy some plants from GABAT!

Literacy Trails in Outdoor Spaces

Trails are interesting things. Children like them and they are often associated with taking learning outdoors. Many teachers experience them the hard way. We set up a trail that takes a couple of hours to put together the night before and half an hour to set up in the morning. Then we watch children complete them in a matter of minutes.

Generally if I'm setting up a trail then it's a special event for a number of classes to complete. You can find an example of a rope trail, a Harry Potter Hunt and most recently an Easter Egg trail on this blog. I've even done a fake blood trail as a trick on my son - which failed as he knew better!

Surprisingly, perhaps, I've never blogged about orienteering which lends itself to many variations and activities at all levels. I like the idea of orienteering between key activity stations. This lends itself particularly well to induction sessions at residential settings and helping children to acclimatise to a new place, routines and structures. It was also used as a creative approach to this Outdoor Learning Event in the Cairngorms National Park last year.

So, we learn from our mistakes. Children like and enjoy making up their own trails. It is a very satisfying process. These can be simple affairs such as following breadcrumbs, as in the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel. It can be using ropes. Mobile technology such by using GPS and setting up geocaches or through the use of QR codes has added a new flavour into the trail mix. As a child,  I used to love creating trails using signs created from natural materials such as knotted grass.

In an urban setting, such as this vacant car park, a little chalk, a bit of paper and a dollop of creativity are a good combination. On this literacy course, the participants worked in pairs to create a variety of trails.

What works really well is that this encourages everyone to focus on the close up detail of the landscape in which they are working. Suddenly cracks, crevices, lines and weeds open up a world of possibilities for trail creation. Suddenly it's the process and not the outcome that is the focus. Trail makers do not always highlight the end of their trail as the crux. Often it's a clue in the middle or a quirk that provides an unexpected dimension. For example, who would have though that flakes of concrete store instructions so well...

The chalk can be used for written or pictorial clues or as a trail to follow in itself...

And the final ending place can be something important such as a big feature or small as a pile of pebbles with a surprise or message underneath...

Wherever you teach, the place has possibilities for trails of all sorts. It's about creating awe and wonder and tapping into children's innate curiosity.  What ones have you and your classes created?

Creating On-Going Dialogue and Change with Children

At the weekend I was facilitating my final workshop of the school year at the Aberdeen Early Years Conference. The theme was Going Out to Play with Fred the Ted - Creating On-going Dialogue with Children.

It was a fitting end to a busy year, in that it was an opportunity to celebrate some of the lovely ideas practitioners have shared with me and others during all the outdoor play courses. I put together a small handout about these which you can download and enjoy too. Feedback, further ideas and thoughts are gratefully received and acknowledged.

The aim of this handout and the ideas is to help practitioners ensure that Article 12 of the UN Rights of a Child is embedded in the ethos and approaches used in their setting. This is the one about children having the right to be consulted, to be listened to, encouraged to express an opinion and be taken seriously.  I've blogged about this before. Cowgate Under 5's Centre is recognised for its efforts here ensuring that not only does dialogue happen, but changes as a result of this dialogue ensue.

This past year, Fred the Ted has been a strong ally for me to try create this ongoing dialogue with the children in the classes in which I work. I cover the non-class contact time for three classes with children who have additional support needs. Although I've worked extensively in a support for learning capacity, my experience up until this year was largely limited to children who were able to work within a mainstream class most of the time. What this means is that, particularly with the younger classes, the abilities of most children to express themselves verbally are limited.

This has not stopped dialogue. It's just changed its nature. Every child is incredibly good at making their thoughts and feelings known in a variety of ways. Some children can use symbols and pictures. Others can use sign language. Most demonstrate their thoughts and needs via their behaviour. We observe the children's body language. We monitor their well-being and level of engagement. We watch, listen, talk and then act upon what is needed. Patience isn't a virtue, it's a necessity to the process.

Fred has been helpful in that he can be naughty. He can be found reading. Often, he's not wearing the right clothing for being outside on a wet day (but the children do know his fur works well, the T-shirt is just for decoration). He sometimes gets stuck in places. He is a bear that many of the children can relate to. He facilitates conversations. He helps find out what changes are needed.

Sadly, Fred has gone missing. Even this has been an ongoing topic of conversation - one child has written to Fred's mum to find out what's going on, and she doesn't know either. None of the children at school have seen him and I've no idea where he is. So next year, if Fred doesn't appear, then I think Ned, his cousin, will have to step into his paws.

Finally, I'm finding this quote by the late Dorothy Heathcote particularly relevant to conversations with children. She founded the remarkable Mantle of the Expert approach, which is a drama-based inquiry approach to learning..."You are unlikely to discover the wisdom of children, unless you provide them with an opportunity to demonstrate their wisdom."

Courses this year and next!

There is now less than two weeks to go until the summer holidays begin in my part of the world. Yesterday I facilitated my final workshops of the year and last week provided the end of the training events. It was the 75th day of training and workshops undertaken in this academic session. These have been run in all sorts of venues and places from the beautiful Island of Barra to delightful Derbyshire!

This is the beautiful outdoor space at Alfreton Nursery which is now a training venue in Derbyshire and a model of sustainable outstanding practice for more than a decade 

I often get asked what sort of courses I provide, well here's a break down based upon this past year. With primary schools the work has focused on:

• Introduction to Learning Outside
• Literacy
• Maths
• Aspects of Science, e.g. Bird Friendly Schools
• Free Play Outdoors

With the Early Years sector, the requests have been more broad and have included all of the above and also:

• Fostering Creativity
• Expressive Arts
• Let's Get Gardening
• Developing the Outdoor Space
• Active Problem Solving
• Getting Outside Whatever the Weather
• Using Loose Parts
• Beyond the Boundaries - a sustainable and rights-based approach to off-site activities. This included developing and trialling a 3-day course for EY practitioners who want to use local woodlands on a regular basis in conjunction with the Forestry Commission Scotland.

Off to a Forest Kindergarten session on the FCS 3-day training course in South Lanark

Looking back over the year, it seems that the number of support visits to schools has noticeably increased. This is where schools and nurseries ask me to work alongside teachers modelling outdoor activities or to provide advice about developing outdoor spaces.

The training courses can use any outdoor space - this is a disused car park for outdoor literacy

Also my conference work changed and became more varied. Every keynote speech was on quite a different theme and its encouraging to see an outdoor perspective added into traditional education events and initiatives.

Grounds for Learning NatNet Event is always a favourite! This was my "Sticks and Stones" maths workshop

The enthusiasm of participants at all these events has been super. Generally practitioners like and enjoy the practical approach involved when learning outside, even if the weather is less than ideal. I love the opportunities courses present for sharing ideas and sparking off each other.

A participatory approach to developing school grounds in Mid Lothian

Next year looks as if I'll be just as busy with almost 50 training events already in the diary. There's further developments. For example, I'm doing sessions Reading Outdoors and Writing Outdoors as well as general literacy courses. Maths is getting a similar treatment, with sessions being offered specifically on fun themes such as messy maths and multicultural maths. Also there is an opportunity to attend courses on different aspects of maths such as Shape or Number or Data Handling activities.

Information handing on a beach in South Ayrshire in January!

My Science course is also becoming more specialised as people are needing further work on specific aspects of Curriculum for Excellence. There are new twilights being developed on Plants, Animals, Planet Earth, Fun with Forces and the Magic of Materials.

Hoisting the flag for free play outside in Aberdeen City!

For the first time ever, I've been asked to do some open events. I'm one of the Independent Thinking Ltd Associates. This education consultancy has linked up with Teachology, a conference provider. If you wish to attend one of my literacy or maths courses, then these are being offered in November 2012 at Manchester and London venues. Please do come along and join in the fun! You will leave with far more ideas and activities than I can ever write about in this blog and hopefully a greater understanding of the how the unique and special nature of the outdoors really benefits children and how they learn.

Long live learning outdoors!

Indoor or Wet Breaks - A Dangerous Idea?

This week Scotland's Colleges are right in the middle of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas carrying the education equivalent of the Olympic Torch for discussion and debate about changes needed within our education system.

Often it's not the big ideas that cause controversy but small decisions or actions that are seen to Really Matter to a group of people, be they children, parents, staff or the wider establishment. And wet breaks are one of those - to have or to have not???

As a head teacher, the only time I've ever had a complaint made to my line manager was about letting children play out in the rain. A parent, in anger and frustration, questioned the school policy about wet breaks. Her child was in Primary 1.

I happened to have been absent from school on the day this event took place. However the depute head teacher was a sensible person and the weather could not have been too serious. My line manager got in touch with me and queried what the school policy was. I stated that I had undertaken a risk assessment. Owing to the overcrowding of the school and the ongoing understaffing within the school, I felt that the level of cover required for indoor breaks was difficult to achieve so it was safer to let the children out to play as much as possible. I duly sent in the risk assessment and heard nothing more.

In many ways, it was simply a chance matter that I had risk assessed the break times because of my concern over the impact on children in terms of supervision and the knock-on disruption to the formal classroom staffing levels.

In Scotland, teachers are not paid for their breaks and cannot be asked to undertake supervision of children during these times. Furthermore, at that time, the school was allocated just two playtime supervisors yet there were more than 240 children in the school. Often older children will go into the younger classes to act as monitors and help with games, and activities indoors. Interestingly, when I look back at the risk assessment, no mention is made of the benefits of being outside, the physical activity, the socialisation, the contact with nature, etc. at all.

A few weeks later at a parents' evening, the parent who had made the complaint came over to see me. She was extremely nice and apologised for her response. She explained that she knew her child must have been playing out in some very heavy rain because her child arrived back home after school with a curly fringe (yes - the part of the hair covering the forehead).

We chatted in a friendly way for several minutes about this and other matters, during which she told me she was a primary school teacher who taught at a nearby school. The moral of this story is that it's not schools versus parents on such a matter. It's about personal opinions, experiences and mindsets from all involved.

It also raises the issue about the entitlement of children to play outside. During all of the above, no adult, including myself (I'm now ashamed to say) considered asking the child affected for her opinion. How schools make the decision about an indoor or outdoor break is normally at the discretion of the head teacher or another person in a promoted post. Usually the decision is made on the grounds of safety rather than looking at the matter from a health perspective or a rights perspective.

As nursery classes are increasingly demonstrating, many children are quite happy being outside in a whole variety of weathers. We are now seeing schools where the primary children are being kept indoors whilst nursery children are outside playing. This was the situation when the photo below was taken. The playground in which we were playing was deemed too icy for the older children.

Similarly, at secondary schools, often there is no such thing as an indoor break. The students have a choice most days whether they stay indoors or outside, irrespective of the weather. It seems to be a phenomenon that is a primary school matter. I'm not sure why this should be so.

It does suggest to me, that in light of Curriculum for Excellence through Outdoor Learning and the increasing concerns being raised about levels of obesity and the general health and wellbeing of children, that Scottish primary schools need to look at their decision making around indoor intervals and re-examine the matters around indoor breaks with both the children and their parents and carers. 

A few topics to kickstart the conversations could include:

• Does the school uniform policy include outdoor gear such as waterproofs and wellies? Should this be part of the expectation around appropriate clothing for schools?
• Should the onus be on schools to provide appropriate wet weather clothing or is this another example of the "nanny state?"
• What choice do children have about going outside? Should this choice be available regardless of the weather?
• When is the weather too wet, or too hot or too cold or too windy or too icy? The moment one looks around the world, perceptions differ widely, as indicated in this recent post by Greg over at Males in Early Childhood Education. What can schools do to help children learn to manage all types of weather experienced their local area?

It is easy for schools to assume that parents will make a fuss. Doubtless a small, vociferous minority may choose to do so. But an interesting survey undertaken in 2010 by the Scottish Parent Teacher Council in conjunction with Grounds for Learning suggests that parents support more outdoor learning and play in all weathers. Although the sample size was small at 52, the results indicate that parents are overwhelmingly in favour of children being able to play outside in rain or snow if they have the appropriate clothing and feel that wet muddy clothing is a price worth paying for enabling outdoor learning and play to happen.

I appreciate that these conversations may not be easy in some schools. A lot of thought and discussion is needed around the benefits of outdoor play.

What do you think? Are you happy with your school or your child's school's approach to playing outside?

Further comment can be found at these blog posts:

• Bad weather and teenagers
• I'm a parent, let my child outside at school
• Try before you buy clothing boxes
• The outdoor clothing boxes are being trialled

St Kilda - A Different Place

Last summer, I had a trip of a lifetime. My husband kindly surprised me for my birthday with a trip to St Kilda. We were in the middle of a family holiday on North Uist which was the inspiration for this blog post. For those of you who don't know, St Kilda is tiny group of islands lie that almost 50 miles west of the Outer Hebrides in the middle of the Atlantic.

 

Tomorrow I'm heading off to Barra, which is another island that's located the southern most tip of the Outer Hebrides. I'm working with various Early Years practitioners, primary teachers and other interested people. It's a pleasant mix of practical sessions and training. It has been organised by the Barra Children's Centre with the Cosy Fund subsidising the travel costs. (Thanks to both organisations). So today I'm a little short on blogging time and remembered I had this post lurking in draft form for such a relevant emergency!...

Getting to St Kilda is quite a challenge. It's a military base so the army get helicoptered in and out. I went by power boat from North Uist. This relies on good weather and being togged up like a biker. It takes a couple of hours to complete the journey, one way.

For me this was more than a birthday treat. It was like going back to school and being on an educational visit. If you think back to your own childhood, I'm sure you remember almost all your visits, whether they are day-long or residential.  There is something about being removed from a normal routine and having a completely different experience that makes the memories.

History has never been one of my strongest subjects. I don't automatically jump to watch a period drama. I've never seen the film, The Titanic. When I was a teaching head teacher I tended to do the science work and let the relief teachers lead the history projects. When I was part of an archaeology unit, I used to feel guilty about my disinterest in the prehistorical artefacts. It was the soil that interested me!

When we arrived on the island, we were given an informal tour of the village. This gave the party an insight into life on the island and some of the ins and outs of its remarkable history.  

This can been seen from the remnants of the deserted main street, and the fascinating cleats which are scattered everywhere across the island and were central to the survival of the human population.

After that we were left to explore as we wanted, provided we kept away from the small military base. As it was such a beautiful day, I went up the hills to get the views, see the sea stacks and get a feel for the lie of the land. Millions of years ago, the islands were part of a large volcanic crater, and this can be seen from up high.

The above photo also shows one of the cleats! These were used for drying seabirds, mutton, ropes and anything else that needed protection from the elements. These structures are unique to St Kilda and one of the reasons that it is a cultural as well as a natural world
heritage site.

Since visiting St Kilda last summer, I've taken the opportunity to read several books about this set of islands. I've looked and mulled over the photos I took. It's made me think and reflect about Scottish life and our history and culture in a way that has never happened before.

So for me, this trip has indeed been a life-time experience. It's also reinforced why that such opportunities - to do something unique and different need to be part and parcel of the education we provide for our children. It might spark an interest, passion or discovery that helps a child find out more about themselves.