Outdoor Education Archives - Page 3 of 6 - Sudbury Catholic District School Board

St. Joseph students search for signs that animals leave in the winter months

Posted on March 31, 2019March 31, 2019 by Carlee Vendramin

Students at St. Joseph in Killarney were treated to a day outside to do some physical literacy.

Mr. Blackwell, who specializes in Outdoor Education discussed habitats and how animals survive winter. The students then looked for clues/signs that animals leave behind and the stories they can tell us. The students also became ‘nature detectives’ in search for clues such as tracks, scat, chew marks and the sounds of geese.

To finish the day, they made pine cone bird feeders to take home and even hung one in the school groun

Hitting the Trails at St. Paul

Posted on February 19, 2016August 23, 2018 by admin

St. Paul Catholic Elementary School teacher Lisa Wright’s Grade 2/3 FI students had a wonderful morning with Sudbury Catholic outdoor education teacher Brad Blackwell on Thursday, February 18th. Students learned that creatures in this area have 3 choices to make during winter. 1) hibernate 2) migrate 3) stay and tough it out . Mr. Blackwell delivered an interesting and amusing presentation. He brought some “nature treasures” such as antlers and bones and some replicas of tracks and scat. After the in-class presentation, they ventured outside on the Jean Tellier trail near the school. For almost all the students , this was their first time on snowshoes. They explored the trails looking for signs of animal life. They found snowshoe hare, squirrel and mice tracks. Students even found scat!

Holy Cross Students Enjoying the Sun and Snow

Posted on January 29, 2016August 23, 2018 by admin

Taking advantage of the sunny day, students in Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School’s grade 3/4 class had the opportunity to go for a snowshoeing adventure recently. Teacher Christina Lucciantonio said it was “a great way for the students to get some fresh air and enjoy the fresh powdery snow!”

Pius XII Staff Supporting Students Through Outdoor Art

Posted on October 21, 2015August 23, 2018 by admin

With a focus on the importance of having fun at school, the staff at Pius XII Catholic Elementary School decided to make the school yard more appealing to students. Staff put their artistic and creative skills to the test and painted the cement slabs, large rocks, and wooden ramps with dynamic colours and themes. While playing in the yard students can read positive messages promoting peace and cooperation. They can imagine themselves in a game of Minecraft or stand on a turtle’s back and go for a ride! The staff and students at Pius XII are definitely having fun!

Grade 7-8 French Immersion Students At St. Charles College Explore Inclusive Education Outdoors

Posted on October 1, 2015August 23, 2018 by admin

Grade 7-8 French Immersion students at St. Charles College take French, social studies, science, inclusive education and art outdoors. Students collected parts of nature, brought them inside and co-constructed success criteria around how everything that was collected can come together to form one. They were only allowed to pick up items that were not attached to the ground, hence that had already fallen on their own. Students decided to make an animal with everything that they had collected and together determined what that would look like and feel like. Each student had the chance to place one object at a time on the giant paper. One at a time, without moving the piece that the previous student placed on the page, the animal began to take shape. Students quickly saw how a variety of objects from different parts of nature came together to form one, just like our world. Students were then asked to sketch what they saw on the giant page. Even though, everyone was looking at the same thing, each picture was different as beauty and perception are in the eyes of the beholder. This lesson was based on the play Spirit Horse and was conducted in the French Language led by teacher Sabrina Rocca at St. Charles College.

Pictured are Colby (grade 8) and Kennedy (grade 7) from the French Immersion class at St. Charles College.

Vermicomposting at St. Joseph

Posted on May 13, 2015August 23, 2018 by admin

Students at St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School recently became a little ‘greener’. The school, in partnership with the Killarney Outdoor Education Centre created a vermicomposting program that will help the school to reduce organic waste. The project, funded by TD Friends of the Environment and Learning for a Sustainable Future, is aimed at helping teach students how composting can have a positive impact on the environment. Both the students of St. Joseph and all visitors to the outdoor centre will weigh their organic waste that enters the compost. This will allow the students to track the amount of waste they prevented from entering the local landfill. The castings left over will be harvested by the students and added to soil used in gardens and planters.
Vermicomposting, is a process that uses worms to digest waste such as food scraps. Bins containing soil, water, worms and bedding material, such as leaves and shredded newspaper, are filled once or twice a week with worm food – for example, fruit and vegetable peels, coffee grounds, and other organic material. The end product is an excellent fertilizer for soil.

Garden of Life Celebration at Holy Cross

Posted on May 11, 2015August 23, 2018 by admin

A Garden of Life celebration that was held on Friday during education week at Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School. The Full Day Kindergarten students, teachers, educators and parents helped plant flowers and vegetables for the future FDK garden. Father Jim led the group in prayer and offered a statue of Mary to look over the garden in the years to come. It was a huge success and they look forward to caring for their garden in the weeks ahead.

St. David School Hosts Wellness Day… Taking Care of YOU!

Posted on April 24, 2015August 23, 2018 by admin

On April 24, St. David Catholic School hosted a “Wellness Day” focusing on supporting students to lead healthy, well-balanced lives. The morning kicked off with motivational student-created videos, acknowledgement of community partners and introductions to the day’s wellness workshops. The grade 4-8 student participants were divided into groups and attended two out of six sessions of their choosing. All students participants were given the opportunity to choose which sessions they wanted to attend.

The day consisted of various healthy habit-forming activities and coping strategy workshops which included yoga, outdoor education team building, “What’s your Spark”, tae kwon do, dance, and healthy cooking options. The school hosted presenters from a number of community agencies within the city including the Sudbury District Health Unit, Better Beginnings-Better Futures, Killarney Outdoor Education Centre and several wonderful student teachers from Laurentian University.

Katie-Ann McLean, grade 8 student at St. David School, described the day as “an opportunity to learn how to relax your mind, body and spirit” .

St. David Catholic School accessed a community grant from Breakfast Club of Canada to host this special day. “For over twenty years, Breakfast Club of Canada has been nourishing children’s potential by making sure as many of them as possible have access to a healthy morning meal before school, in an environment that allows their self esteem to grow and flourish”. Thank you Breakfast Club of Canada, and Better Beginnings-Better Futures for all that you do for St. David Catholic Elementary School, and so many other schools.

St James Learning about Planting and How Seeds Grow

Posted on April 21, 2015August 23, 2018 by admin

Mademoiselle Prosser’s grade 1 french immersion class at St. James Catholic Elementary School have been learning about partners in their community this month. With the help of Mrs. Hachez, her students got the chance to learn about planting and how seeds work. They even got to plant their own tomato, bean, and marigold plants. The students are very proud of the little garden that is growing in their classroom!