SSEN, Case Study 30

Overcoming barriers to participation

This series of Case Studies is edited by Alison Closs and produced by Gina Reddie.

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Clusters contact for this Case Study
Grangemouth High School
Tinto Drive
Grangemouth FK3 0HW
Contact: Gerry Docherty
Head Teacher
Tel: 01324 485 031
Fax: 01324 508 771
Email: gerry.docherty@falkirk.gov.uk

A helping hand

We have been very fortunate in having the interest and encouragement of the Barclays' national schools organiser since we received our award. Action Recycle's local community liaison officer attends all our I'm picking up litter meetings and helps schools organise their 'litter picks' and establishes recycling systems. Last year, on national Make a Difference Day (MADD), the two primary seven classes of Bowhouse Primary did indeed make a difference. Eight waste sackfuls of rubbish from the playground and local streets were gathered by them, ably supported by parent and teacher volunteers and by the Action Recycle liaison officer! School Boards have been appreciative and the Council too has lent support, praised our efforts and assisted some initiatives, as they would any partner in improving the environment. This feeling of ' being a partner' is something noted as having an effect on pupil self-esteem and self-confidence in public speaking and action (see Picture F).

Where now?

Such projects tend to have their own momentum, though of I'm collecting rubbish today. course this can vary and sometimes needs a boost or a brake! Currently, the Cluster collective group is considering whether it wishes to go forward with the idea of each member school registering itself to be an 'Eco School', part of a nationally accredited scheme supported by SEED with three levels of attainment, bronze, silver and the Green Flag. The aims address many of SEED's priorities in citizenship, pupil participation and social inclusion as well as in improved health and environment. Falkirk Council's Environmental Support Officer was invited to give a talk for the Cluster representatives to consider it together and then to consult about the scheme within their own schools. Although the decision has to be made at the level of each school, the collective efforts to date will be credited to each school. We are also planning and writing a play about litter and other ecology problems to involve all the cluster schools in its presentations to school assemblies and to community groups, thus diversifying the different ways of getting our message across.

Picture F: Confidence in public speaking has grown throughout the project.

Comments from staff

"(list of achievements) were all important factors in illustrating that, through their meetings, the groups could solve real life problems by making decisions and acting on them".
Beancross Primary

"In the nursery school, the children are encouraged to keep their play areas tidy...but outside bins are usually too large or placed too high for our children to access. Therefore, having our own child-sized bins in the local community has, we feel, developed independence and a sense of pride".
Inchyra Nursery

"Children are able to feel a real sense of ownership and involvement throughout the Grangemouth schools. It has increased their self-confidence and they feel part of the Grangemouth team".
Moray Primary

"(At the national conference) our pupils have made formal presentations to their peers and listened in turn to examples of different projects from around the country. The younger secondary pupils were particularly thrilled by this opportunity and it certainly boosted their self-esteem".
Grangemouth High School

Have we made a difference?

We have certainly made a difference to the participating pupils, who are definitely growing in confidence and in number. I need lots of fingers to pick up the rubbish Grangemouth is still a town with a litter problem, but the problem has been reduced, at least for the time being and I've collected lots of sweetie papers maybe in the longer-term. The fuller inclusion of our nursery sector partners in the Cluster has been a real plus for all (see the children's drawings on this page).

The visible involvement of pupil activists among their peers and their success in attracting further activists is certainly easier for primary sector pupils, and all nursery pupils happily join in. The adolescent peer pressure against perceived 'geeks' is a powerful deterrent to the Eco Activists and to others in the High School who may well be convinced but who have not yet got the courage to act out their new convictions. The high school pupils preferred helping nursery school pupils with their litter pick to undertaking one in their own playground. We wonder if the larger communities of activists and the whole-school responses in some of the primary schools will have been firmly enough embedded to survive their transfer to the secondary environment? Only time will tell for sure, but if we had not made these efforts now our litter problem would certainly have increased and we would have lost an opportunity for our pupils to demonstrate their potential as citizens and their capacity to participate very effectively beyond their classes and their schools.