Survey Report Available

At the start of pilot testing, educators, parents and grade 7-8 students completed surveys that assessed attitudes, behaviours and potential barriers to integrating Pathway Landmarks into daily life.  689 surveys were collected from local schools and homes, which provided fantastic local information about children from birth through the elementary grades.

Many thanks to everyone who helped to prepare, complete and assess the Pathway start-up surveys, and especially to Trent University Professor Lisa Nisbet and her assistants in analyzing the results.

Survey results are available in three formats:

• Full report
• Summary report
• Poster

Samples of start-up survey learnings:

• Educators and parents reported an interest in doing more activities outdoors, but need ideas and support to help increase outdoor time
• Parks and conservation areas were consistently mentioned as favourite places for families to visit

• Teachers are challenged with limited access to natural areas within walking distance and high costs for bussing; 100% of Grade 5-6 teachers said that easy access to natural areas near homes and schools is very important for their students
• Outdoor time decreases considerably during winter months in all age groups, both at home and at school; ideas for winter activities and advice on dressing for the weather could help overcome this challenge
• Older students (grades 7-8) spend considerable sedentary time every week; opportunities to mentor younger students in outdoor activities would build their leadership skills and boost their physical health through increased activity
• Schools would appreciate help from the community, such as:
  • Mentors to accompany primary students on walks in the neighbourhood
  • Opportunities to meet animals in primary grades
  • Help with growing food or wildlife gardens in grades 3-4
  • Finding nearby renewable energy demonstrations for grades 5-6
  • Finding opportunities for involvement in meaningful community projects in grades 7-8

Pilots a Big Success

Many thanks to all the great folks at our six pilot communities who worked so hard to make Pathway Landmark activities a regular part of their day.  Three cheers to Peterborough Child and Family Centres, Compass Early Learning and Care, Millbrook South Cavan Elementary, St. Joseph Elementary in Douro, Queen Elizabeth Elementary, and Immaculate Conception Elementary for their great teamwork, super ideas, and dedication to the wellbeing of our kids and our world.

Here’s a sample of success stories:

• All elementary grades reported an increase in outdoor activities
• Preschool and Kindergarten educators provided many new creative sensory and nature-based activity centres and opportunities to interact with living things
• All Grade 1-2 teachers involved their class in gardening (up from 44% in start-up surveys)
• 56% of Grade 3-4 teachers had involved their class in planning a trip (up from 0% in start-up surveys)
• All Grade 3-4 classes tried new outdoor activities, with increases in growing food, nature art, growing wildlife gardens, tree planting, keeping bird feeders and outdoor exploration

• All Grade 5-6 classes visited a public park as well as an outdoor education centre while they pilot-tested Pathway Landmark activities
• 80% of Grade 7-8 classes explored a stream (up from 14% before the pilot project), 100% participated in a multi-cultural event (up from 29%) and 60% helped with a habitat improvement project (up from 29%)

We were encouraged to hear that all educators said the Pathway Project benefitted their classes, with 69% responding ‘very beneficial.’  Teachers noted improved behaviour, increased physical stamina, improved ability to focus attention, increased outdoor confidence and respect for living things, and greater interest in being at school.

Based on these responses, we are working to expand the project and its community supports.

 

 

The Results Are In

Pathway Parent and Educator Surveys

January 23, 2019 – Three cheers to all the teachers, parents and students who completed surveys for the Pathway pilot sites.  What a lot of great information you provided!  We received 684 surveys that help us learn what’s important to you and the challenges in your life.  We were impressed by the thought and effort shown by the responses.  
 
Each age group had its own survey, ranging from preschool to grade eight.  We wanted to know how many of the Pathway “Landmarks” are already part of your lives, how familiar you are with our local community, and what barriers you face in including more outdoor time in your lives.  We’re still compiling and assessing this wonderful wealth of information, but here are a few tidbits to share, based on responses from the primary grades: 

1. Parents shared lots of great ideas for outdoor activities for each season; teachers find a much bigger challenge in getting outdoors with their classes, with fewer ideas for larger groups of children. 
2. For parents, the biggest barrier to getting outside is lack of time; for teachers, it’s lack of resources, ideas for outdoor activities, and support. 
3. Parents indicated relatively low worries about safety when their families are outdoors; teachers are very worried about safety issues (liability concerns are huge). 
4. Teachers love to use natural areas in their schoolyards, if they’re available.  They find it difficult to take classes off the school property. 
5. Families love to spend time in familiar places, especially family cottages, farms or their own backyards.  They also love local parks, especially if they’re easy to get to. 
6. Most-mentioned favourite public places include Riverview Park and Zoo, Jackson Park, Millbrook Trails, Rogers Cove and Peterborough’s trail system. 
7. Teachers and parents want IDEAS for outdoor games, nature art, crafts and songs. 
8. The majority of teachers and parents said that their interest in the outdoors was greater than their knowledge – many felt they didn’t know much about nature. 
9. Most teachers and parents said that their students/kids were very interested in the natural world. 
10. Teachers and parents who completed our surveys all agreed that physical activity, outdoor play, and play in nature are very important for children. 

Based on these preliminary responses, you’ll find some ideas for nature games, crafts and other activities on this website.