Session 1:

Today we met Emma (who works for OASES) and started learning about the Campaign in a Box program. We also drew some posters about being more sustainable and more ecologically friendly in groups, and then discussed them around the table with Emma and Miss Hickey. We also got to know the other members in the group- we were all chosen by our PSHE teachers to participate. Although some people were late, we got off to a flying start, and everyone was surprised about how much we had achieved. Well, at least we got to miss the afternoon lessons! J

 

Session 2:

In this session we talked about ideas for our project, (eg. Possibility of getting the staff from Deerness Kennels Durham involved) and Emma came back into school to work with us again. We hired, a professional photographer to take pictures of the surrounding streets and the countryside, as we went out and noted down different items that could encourage walking to school, as well as all of the advantages and disadvantages.

Session 3:

Today we started the project of our cardboard bus, something that we had been planning about in the last session. Some of us really enjoyed creating it, others weren't so happy! The idea of the Green Bus is to basically promote ourselves and use it as a starting point for our projects. We sorted out everything we had planned so far, and began thinking about what we were going to do in the future, in Flasvale, the woodland area near Durham Johnston. This was also Emma's last session with us.

Emma, the Campaign-in-a-Box facilitator, added the following update:

15th November 2010

This first session was an introduction to the group, chosen by their PSHE teachers as they had an interest in the programme, and wanted to help encourage others to walk to school, as well as making local area improvements. The group was made up from representatives of each tutor group in year 7 so that the messages could be filtered back to the whole of year 7 during tutor time, and so that the project could target the whole year group over time. During this session the group had some enthusiastic discussions about the project, and their current status with regards walking. Many of the group do walk when possible, but others find it difficult due to living further away, or because they get dropped off by their parents on their way to and from work. We discussed the benefits of walking more in general and identified a number of issues we thought may be preventing other students from walking as much as they could. The group decided that it would be nice to have a 'logo' that would identify them within school, and they talked about the best way to engage with the rest of their year group, methods of communication within school, and how best to promote the programme overall. The session was a success with the group being very enthusiastic about the potential to meet the aims of the project in their school. The group decided on the best times to meet and have a great deal of support from their lead teacher who will continue to facilitate the programme in the long term. We looked at the entire contents of the box, worked out the definition that the group wanted to use for a campaign, and identified rules that they were happy to work with.

10th December 2010

This second session involved the group conducting their street treasure hunt, identifying features in the vicinity of school that were both positive and negative with regards encouraging people to walk. The group's efforts were hampered by the snow at this stage and although we identified a huge number of features just outside of the school gates, it was difficult to walk too far. The group was also joined by a professional photographer for this session who was able to capture some of the work they were doing. We looked at the maps indicating the area around school that could be walked easily in 15minutes, and looked at the resources provided to begin to prioritise actions for the campaign. During group discussions it became apparent that it may be too difficult to encourage more people to walk either to or from school due to its location near a very busy main road, and because of the fact that so many of the young people catch buses, or are dropped off by parents in cars. With this in mind the group was keen to consider other opportunities to encourage people to walk during school hours instead of focusing on the beginning or end of the day. There is a local nature reserve very close to the school that can be accessed by the school field, and it was decided that a lunch time walk could be offered to do a circular route to and from school that incorporated the reserve at 'Flass Vale'. This idea then became the focus of discussion and the campaign was born! The group was left to continue with their planning and to make contact with the friends of Flass Vale to identify ways in which they could help to improve the area through tasks such as litter picking, developing a nature trail and associated prizes!

3rd February 2011

The final session with the group supported by me, hearing all about their plans for the lunch time walks around Flass Vale, and the summer event to promote their project and progress to the whole school and local community. The logo that had been discussed in the first session began to take shape and the group decided that a model of a green bus should be used to stimulate interest in the rest of the year group and gather supporters for the project. The group spent time this session creating the bus and videoing their activity so that they could begin to piece together some footage that they may use in an assembly or tutor time to advertise their walks and encourage participation. The group thought that it would be of benefit to offer prizes for those that took part and that each walk should have a 'theme' linked to Flass Vale and it's preservation. Ideas were discussed such as Butterfly Walk, Wild Flower Walk, Bird Walk and Litter Pick, where each tutor group would participate in a walk linked to the chosen theme and could win prizes for spotting the most butterflies, identifying the most wild flowers and birds, or collecting the most litter. The group decided that they would need to spend some of their budget on prizes and save the rest for a summer celebration event to which the friends of Flass Vale would be invited, as well as local councilors and representatives from Living Streets. At the end of this session the group were going to continue to be supported by their lead teacher to plan each walk, identify when (in the summer term) they could take place, and begin to think about invitations, risk assessments, nature trails etc.