LEEF Curriculum training
Thursday 12th February 2015
At the Velopark
by Alona Sheridan
London’s environmental educators have varied and interesting training opportunities through LEEF
(London Environmental Educators’ Forum) thanks to the enthusiasm of its members and the LEEF coordinator, Anna Portch.
On 12th February 2015 more than 20 LEEFers descended on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in
Stratford, east London for a training day at the Lee Valley VeloPark
The Olympic Park is vast so we met at the nearby Westfield Shopping Centre, one of the largest urban
shopping centres in Europe. A citadel for consumers, it was a vastly different environment to the one
we would focus on.
Helen Robertson, Field Studies Council, She took us on a brief tour of the Olympic Park, its history, its
environmental legacy and the major new homes building programme around the periphery of the
park. As we meandered through the park to the Velo Park she explained how they have linked
outdoor activities to specific subjects to outdoor learning. She showed us sample worksheets on using
the locality for outdoor environmental education in KS1 and K2 numeracy, literacy, geography and
science.
Then the magnificent VeloPark came into view, with its roof curved like a giant ‘Pringle’. Our training
room was in this building. Anna opened the formal part of the day by providing an overview of
changes in the new curriculum, particularly in science, across all key stages. It has a greater focus on
practical and hands-on science in Key stages 1 and 2, greater emphasis on outdoor learning and the
environment, using relevant scientific language, links with DT. Some of us also heard for the first time
about the London curriculum with its own teaching units supporting aspects of the KS3 curriculum
https://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/schools-and-education/the-london-curriculum
LEEF events focus on practical application of knowledge, so we were given an opportunity to work in
groups, to look more closely at five of the KS2 programmes of study (PoS): English; Mathematics;
science; Geography; Computing, design and technology. Each group was given one subject PoS and
asked to come up with an activity plan to feed back to everyone in a plenary. As participants come
from a range of environmental education backgrounds, this allowed for creative ideas to be
generated and shared at a plenary.
After lunch we were taken for a tour outside and inside the VeloPark building, an amazing piece of
architecture which is an educational resource in itself. This was led by Karen Wheeler and Simon Hunt
from the Lee Valley Park.
Some outstanding features of all LEEF events I have ever attended include the friendliness of
participants and willingness to share ideas. People bring a small dish of food to share, either homemade to shop-bought for lunch or break. Participants also try to bring their own reusable mug, plate
and cutlery. This was an inspiring training day.