Helen Bilton
I am Professor of Outdoor Learning and Play at the University of Reading. I am also Director of the Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Education.
Location Reading
Activity
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
Congratulations again from us all on completing the course!
Thank you for all your hard work and engagement and the discussions, which really make this course.
Do have a good look at the links in Step 4.19, which detail all our programmes.
Good luck in your future studies and beyond!
And if you want to get in touch please do. I love hearing how... -
Helen Bilton made a comment
Wishes are one thing, carrying them out is another. And changing so it becomes second nature is another stage.
What are you going to do as a result of the wishes to ensure you do carry them out? -
Helen Bilton made a comment
The more time we give to what questions we want to ask, the better will be the answers.
Ensure you give some time over to consider carefully the questions you want to ask?
And think about getting children to ask questions. -
Helen Bilton made a comment
I find that when support staff realise they are not their for task completion, their world opens up to what they are there for.
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
It would seem that the vast majority of you who tried this exercise got the same result. People like being heard and acknowledged.
Can you do more to ensure others feel validated when they are talking to you?
23.3.23 -
Helen Bilton made a comment
Be sure to have a good look at the information above. There is a lot to take in. Don’t forget the staff you work with may not know anything about the support staff role or their responsibilities. They also could feel scared of what they have to do, or scared of you- you might be a very confident character, they a young teacher. Its quite hard to tell someone...
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
Acknowledging the importance of communication will mean:
• You will not assume what the person understands
• You will not assume they can guess what is in your head
• You will empathise with where they are coming from and what they know, not what you know
• You will help the person to understand the purpose, the sense and the structure of the type of... -
Helen Bilton made a comment
If you want to get the most from children, you must enable them to communicate (whether verbal or visual) using all forms of communication, talking, listening, reading and writing/drawing.
And we can sometimes forget that children need to be taught all aspects of language development and taught explicitly.
As you work through these steps we hope that...
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
I look forward to hearing your thoughts concerning this week's learning.
And if things didnt make sense before, they should by the end of the course. 23.3.23 -
@JeanPlumb Why do you think you grew to love the library?
-
@ShahlaRaza Who are the children's heroes now?
-
@ShahlaRaza I love it!
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
Well, that concludes Week 3!
We hope you have not only gained new knowledge, understanding and skills, but also been affirmed that you are doing things right. And hopefully look at the environment for learning differently now.
We now turn our attention to language and how this impacts all we do.
14.3.23 -
Helen Bilton made a comment
Welcome to the three quarters point of the course! Well done for getting here, and we hope you enjoy the rest of your journey with us!
An important note from this step is be patient with yourself and the children/pupils. Trying to focus on the primary rather than the secondary behaviours takes time, practice and patience. But also remember to audit yourself...
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
Its always very helpful to consider and talk through with other staff, the three aspects of creating a good working atmosphere, that is: high quality relationships, effective use of language and working within a framework of principles. This means you need to have thought through and have at your fingertips a response to just about anything that might...
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
When you complete this step, try to see things from all angles, not just what is in front of you.
In what ways does this step make you look at things within your setting differently? 14.3.23 -
Helen Bilton made a comment
The pandemic and subsequent changes in the way we lived, have impacted all, but particularly children.
Are you aware of children who have been impacted by lockdown and is there any pattern to who seems to have been more affected than others?
What is done in your school to support children get over the impact of the lockdown in terms of personal, social and... -
Helen Bilton made a comment
Many people are very keen on ability groupings, but we must remember that children are not stupid and can work out even if the grouping is unidentifiable by its title how clever they are perceived, dependent on the group they are in.
We also describe children as low, middle and high ability, how about using the terms lucky and unlucky as titles instead? ...
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
Many people are very keen on ability groupings, but we must remember that children are not stupid and can work out even if the grouping is unidentifiable by its title how clever they are perceived, dependent on the group they are in.
We also describe children as low, middle and high ability, how about using the terms lucky and unlucky as titles instead?...
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
This completes Week 3. We hope that you have learnt lots, but also been affirmed that you are doing okay, have gained useful skills and knowledge and hopefully look at the environment for learning differently now.
We now turn our attention to language and how this impacts all we do.
13.3.23 -
Helen Bilton made a comment
Welcome to the three quarters point of the course! Well done for getting here, and we hope you enjoy the rest of your journey with us!
An important note from this step is be patient with yourself and the children/pupils. Trying to focus on the primary rather than the secondary behaviours takes time, practice and patience.
But also remember to audit yourself... -
Helen Bilton made a comment
It is worth having the Haydn scale with you for a series of lessons and to try and find some patterns.
Different times of the day can affect individuals and the class as a whole, different times of the week likewise. So then if you feel some lessons, times of day, etc, etc are not as conducive as others, this is about you thinking thinking through the three... -
Helen Bilton made a comment
Its always very helpful to consider and talk through with other staff, the three aspects of creating a good working atmosphere, that is: high quality relationships, effective use of language and working within a framework of principles. This means you need to have thought through and have at your fingertips a response to just about anything that might happen....
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
When you note down your stars and wish, also note down what you will do to achieve your wish and how you will maintain your stars. 14.3.23
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
This step is trying to help you remember to not look at what is in front of you and the obvious, but to consider all things from all angles. 14.3.23
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
The impact of the pandemic and changes to the ways we lived at that time are still having repercussions in all walks of life and particularly so for children. They have probably been the most impacted.
Have you noticed differences in children from pre to post lockdown?
Which age of child do you feel has been impacted the most?
What are the schools... -
Helen Bilton made a comment
Many people are very keen on ability groupings, but we must remember that children are not stupid and can work out even if the grouping is unidentifiable by its title how clever they are perceived, dependent on the group they are in.
We also describe children as low, middle and high ability, how about using the terms lucky and unlucky as titles instead? ...
-
Helen Bilton replied to Jean Plumb
@JeanPlumb I like your suggestions. Do they come from personal experience?
-
Helen Bilton replied to Linda Seaborn
@LindaSeaborn that is great to hear!
-
Helen Bilton replied to Jean Plumb
@JeanPlumb That's a really interesting one, and actually very true. If you are not a detective it rather suggests you are not interested in children.
-
@CynthiaS How will you do this?
-
Helen Bilton replied to Kath D
@KathD Welcome!
-
Helen Bilton replied to Jean Plumb
@JeanPlumb How might this exercise impact your work with children?
-
@AfnanAlsaleh What ideas might you include and how might you incorporate them?
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
I hope you’ve enjoyed working through Week 1 – it can feel overwhelming to cover climate and sustainability topics or using the outside as a learning space for the first time. The key message is to do one thing, but well, to make it feel more manageable.
Do continue into Week 2 if you wish, as this is available straight away.
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
There are many more additional resources under ‘See Also’ section below on this Step and across the whole course. These have been gathered from a range of sources and we hope they are useful to you. (1.3.23)
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
I love the comment from one of the teachers, that you can simply go outside. You dont need permission through a lesson plan. We go in the hall, we use the library, the corridors for teaching. There is no reason why we cannot simply use outside. It needs to become the norm. (1.3.23)
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
If we see the outdoors as simply another learning and teaching environment then we straight away have a different mindset and will think ‘okay how can I exploit how the day is, how can I use the wind, the heat, the darkness to cover an area of the curriculum’.
This is easier said than done and building up resources linked to curriculum areas is one way... -
Helen Bilton made a comment
You’ll see quite a few examples from schools we work with in the Berkshire area. Every school is different and I’ve seen some really interesting and unique approaches to outdoor learning over the years – I’d love to hear more examples in the discussion areas on this course. (1.3.23)
-
Welcome to this course, it is great to see you and have you involved!
We will be facilitating the course, that is responding to comments and postings, for the next two weeks, from 27.2.23.
Please do join in the conversation as we are very keen to hear your ideas and thoughts. Only in this way can we start to build a strong body of evidence and a strong... -
@EsraÇakmak Other peoples' behaviour is not about you, it reflects the person giving out the behaviour. Of course this is hard to deal with.
How are you managing challenging behaviour? -
Helen Bilton replied to Julian Owen
@JulianOwen You are indeed right. And when you measure some things, inevitably you dont measure others and then important aspects can get forgotten because they are not being measured.
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
Well done for completing Week 1 we look forward to seeing you in Week 2. (1/3/23)
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
I am always amazed at the range of metaphors people come up with. So many I wouldn't have thought of. So inventive, creative and thoughtful.
We hope this helps you understand more clearly your own motivation for working with children.
(1.3.23) -
Helen Bilton made a comment
Linking to Week 4 of this course keep a tally of the language you use with girls and boys.
Do you speak to them in the same way, as in tone?
Do you use the same words when addressing boys and girls?
Do you speak to individual boys and individual girls?
Do you only speak to boys when they are in a group or do you only speak to girls when they are in a... -
Helen Bilton made a comment
One way to become more aware of your unconscious bias is to decide to check yourself through the day as to what is driving your decision making/reactions.
You cant check all the time, so decide either on a number or a situation you would like to check. So it might be “I am going to check the reasoning for three decisions I make today”. Or “I find...
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
What we hope you achieve from doing this task is a greater understanding of why other people might think differently to you and how important it is to understand others.
We also hope that you now appreciate the importance of researching other viewpoints so you can disagree or agree from an informed perspective not a biased perspective.
Added to this,...
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
We have a great team on this course, all with different perspectives, knowledge and expertise.
There are lots of tips as you go along, things to try out, to help you develop your skills in the educational setting.
The course is very much a whole and many learners get to Week 4 and go "oh I get it now". So allow yourself the time to sometimes be... -
Helen Bilton made a comment
A reminder from this step is, if at first you do not succeed try a different way, a different place, with different materials. Just because the child has been asked to complete something using pen and paper doesn't mean you cannot then add any manner of materials or move to a different environment, as this may be the key to unlocking the understanding....
-
Helen Bilton made a comment
Helping children to learn outside can seem all too much effort. And someone might say its not real learning. There are some lovely examples given here where outside has been used to enhance and harness learning.
When you work with children how about thinking how you might use the immediate outdoor environment to help learning and then ask if you can do the... -
Helen Bilton made a comment
Maslow’s hierarchy acts as a useful guide about basic needs and their centrality to success in learning.
It can be a useful exercise to go through a class list and actually note down who you think isn’t having their basic needs met and how you/teacher/school can help. (1.3.23) -
Helen Bilton replied to Neil Gauld
@NeilGauld Hello Neil!
-
-
Helen Bilton replied to Sophie Wood
@SophieWood I agree we need to be able to understand another point of view.
-
Helen Bilton replied to Helen Lehart
@HelenLehart What outrage has there been Helen? And why?
-
Helen Bilton replied to Maryem OULHSAINE
@MaryemOULHSAINE We do have this course for secondary staff as well and its running now.
-
Helen Bilton replied to courtney powles
Hi Courtney, great news. Where are you applying to?
-
Helen Bilton replied to Chika Olakitan
@ChikaOlakitan We hope this course helps.
-
@RitaBini You can work in a school as a teaching assistant as long as the school takes you on. Different schools have different expectations.
-
@JuliannaSilvester The school/setting would have to pay although some garden centres might give you bulbs for free, especially if you explain who you are. You can pay $5 for a bag of say 100 bulbs. But that may change. Record the condition of the soil, means examining if it is wet, dry, has sand, lime, stones, colour, etc in it. So children get used to close...
-
Helen Bilton replied to Maria Marques
@MariaMarques Can you share some of the projects you have developed?
-
Helen Bilton replied to Fiona Williams
@FionaWilliams What do you feel children gain from playing, exploring and creating their own activities?
-
Helen Bilton replied to Joanna Brown
@JoannaBrown Would you be able to broaden the teaching so it includes all subjects? And if so what might you do?
-
Helen Bilton replied to Sophie Bryan
@SophieBryan You will have to invite us over to have a look at the school.
-
Helen Bilton replied to Ezra Vento
@EzraVento Its great that you view the world/nature/outdoors as a part of your work. Architecture can so often be about buildings without considering the outdoor space. What might be your specialism when you qualify?
-
Helen Bilton replied to Shirley Miranda
@ShirleyMiranda I am interested in how you support the school curriculum. Can you give some examples of what you do?
-
Helen Bilton replied to Tho Dang
@ThoDang You are welcome!
-
@RamonMislang I think all learners would be interested, if you want to share.
-
Helen Bilton replied to Ramon Mislang
@RamonMislang That is a really interesting question. What are your thoughts?
-
@RamonMislang Do you think we dont need to teach handwriting if typing/digital is the major way of writing?
-
Helen Bilton replied to Anne V
@AnneV How would you do this?
-
@DebbiePayne Have you looked and what areas have you found?
-
Helen Bilton replied to Ann Fernando
@AnnFernando How do you know this about light?
-
Helen Bilton replied to Ryan Hartley
@RyanHartley We are really pleased to hear this. There is so much to learn about children and teaching and still so much we dont know!
-
@RamonMislang What can schools do about this?
-
@RebeccaSharp Is that readiness to learn or readiness for formal school work?
-
Helen Bilton replied to Ann Fernando
@AnnFernando Does the child not have a right to play alone?
-
Helen Bilton replied to Natalie Gibson
@NatalieGibson Can you say a little bit more about how this is organised?
-
Helen Bilton replied to Ann Fernando
@AnnFernando I found that point interesting too. We need to be cautious with them though as they can be overwhelming for some children.
-
Helen Bilton replied to sara brown
@sarabrown Where is the school, it sounds interesting.
-
Helen Bilton replied to Jaide Armstrong
@JaideArmstrong What qualification are they looking for and at what lelve?
-
@DebbiePayne How will you do this?
-
Helen Bilton replied to Rebecca Sharp
@RebeccaSharp Indeed. So we need to always refer back to the child development which is quite clear about how children develop.
-
Helen Bilton replied to Gill Murray
@GillMurray I like that. That something can be as low key or all consuming as you wish.
-
Helen Bilton replied to Ann Miller
@AnnMiller I think its about deciding on one thing you would like to work on. Then gather evidence as to why this will help learning, link it to results and well being. So for example you could go with measuring weather across the year. Or create a bird sanctuary. By taking one topic you dont feel overwhelmed and then support it with evidence. I know this...
-
Helen Bilton replied to Ann Miller
@AnnMiller Yes, but hard work for you! Evidence is powerful. So showing them evidence from the course, leaving articles lying around. I call it drip feed. Linking results to learning outside.
-
Helen Bilton replied to Alison Henderson
@AlisonHenderson So so true.
-
@ElinaHoudetsanaki You are welcome!
-
Helen Bilton replied to Dawn Newton
@DawnNewton I like your honesty!
-
@ElinaHoudetsanaki We agree. You have to get parents and all staff on side and they need to know from the beginning what type of school you are and what children will be expected to do. Schools need to involve parents too in the work of outdoors. At Patrick's school the caretaker has taken composting on as his interest for example.
-
@DawnNewton They can still compost, they can still grow, they might need to buy a tree and dig a piece of tarmac up, but its all possible. They can still ensure children look after the environment. Its tyres or boxes to hold soil, rathe than the ground, its one tree rather than many. It could be a bird 'sanctuary'. Its all possible though. Whatever is done,...
-
@DawnNewton Hopefully this course will encourage people to see it's not an either or situation. Children can and do learn outside.
-
Helen Bilton replied to Dawn Newton
@DawnNewton Dont make it mighty, do just one thing.
-
Helen Bilton replied to Paul Stevens
@PaulStevens I will let the University know. The DfE want a National Nature Park of all school grounds. Maybe this could be a part of it.
-
Helen Bilton replied to Suzanne Axelsson
@SuzanneAxelsson Very fair comment. Language is important, so thank you for that.
-
Helen Bilton replied to Andrew McEwen
@AndrewMcEwen What does this say about what they do indoors?
-
Helen Bilton replied to Veronica Carter
@VeronicaCarter Hopefully week 2 will encourage you, as we have built in the empowerment of the child there.
