FORMAL EDUCATION - Outdoor instructor led courses
Ardroy Outdoor Education Centre uses Cormonachan Woodlands as an outdoor classroom for their primary school groups. The activities, which take place in the woods, are designed to support classroom teachers in their delivery of educational objectives, inherent in the “Curriculum for Excellence.”
Most groups visit the woods as part of a “John Muir Award” course - www.jmt.org
To achieve their "Discovery Level Award" each pupil participates in a range of activities that encompass four challenges: -
1) Discover - a wild place
This map was produced by Lochgoilhead Primary School after they visited Cormonachan Woodlands.
2) Explore an area including using your senses to appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of the place. The children are given the opportunity to see, feel, touch and smell the woods through a “sensory walk.”
3) Conservation and taking care of the wild place is an important part of the award. The pupils learn about the woodland habitat, the traditional ways woods were used and are sustainably managed. They assist with implementing the woodland management plan, which has been designed to enhance the biodiversity of the woods.
4) Sharing of the pupils experience with others is the final challenge of the John Muir Award.
INFORMAL EDUCATION - Unaccompanied
A Red Squirrel interpretation trail has been designed for primary school aged pupils and of course their parents. It gives an over view of the life and loves of the endanger Red Squirrel and if you are really quiet you may be lucky enough to see one.
