 The next item of business is a member's business debate on motion 5, not nautated in the name of Brian Whittle on heritage and environmental conservation charities' support for outdoor learning. You can stay seated just now, I know you're keen, but I'm just going to just get, you're not the starting blocks now. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put with those members who wish to speak in the day. Please press the request to speak buttons now. I now call on Brian Whittle to open the debate, please. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to once again speak today on one of my very favourite topics in the importance of outdoor learning. It takes many forms from school trips to the great outdoors, to developing vegetable patches in our school grounds, to coaching and participating in sports and many, many other examples. However, on the short time that I have, I'm just going to pick through a few of those. The Marine Conservation Society, of which I happen to be the parliamentary champion of the leatherback turtle no less, and it's my great array of the turtles from warmer climes to our shores. When I was chatting to them, I was pointing out to them that that is actually geography. It eats jellyfish, but it mistakes plastic bags for food, which has been causing real problems in the population. The advent of charging for carrier bags has drastically reduced this usage. The impact on the population can be measured by going to the shore and counting jellyfish or discarded plastic bags, which, of course, is numeracy. We can then go back to the classroom and plot this on the graph, which is maths, and this is on top of ecology and marine biology. The same sort of story happens for the RSPB with the migration of birds, which is geography, the number of birds, which is numeracy, the painting of the birds in the landscape, which is art, as well as nature. I had the pleasure of meeting with the Scouts and their great exponents of outdoor learning. They are now working and adapting according to the school's needs by holding their beaver groups at 3 pm after school for those areas where getting to a 6.30 pm meeting is challenging. Those pupils are not expected to bike it because that would be a barrier to participation. Sweat shirts are now handed out to all pupils and collected back at the end of the lesson. They can even take the members out on full trips and experience the great wilds of Scotland for free where that is needed. They train the trainers, too. Young people learning skills such as planning, budgeting and leadership, team development, resilience, confidence and managing difficult situations. To me, that sounds very much like middle management. You pay a fortune to attain those skills. In partnership with SAMH, they have designed a programme specifically to address the issue of developing poor mental health. You will not be surprised to hear that young people who have attended the Scouts are 15 per cent less likely to suffer poor mental health and adulthood. The cost of four years of scouting is £550. The free house has developed classrooms for interactive lessons and subjects such as engineering. It gives space in the garden for children to plant, produce their own produce and then learn to cook it. I must give sport a mention here. Sport teaches discipline and resilience and goal setting and confidence. Do not forget the constant learning that the coach does. He has learned short, medium and long-term planning. He is a park coach, park parent and park psychologist. He does not only deal with triumph and failure, but he helps others to deal with the same and comes back for more. He also gets to sound much more intelligent than he looks by learning to say things such as propriocept and unimuscle of facilitation. I am looking up at our sign language man there, just to see how he does that. Fantastic. I wanted to share some of my outdoor learning experience. I remember many, many years ago in Glacenock House during a weekend away studying old-level geology. We studied the Luger sill in igneous intrusions in sedimentary rock layers in the Luger mine limestone pavements—clints and grikes—on Google. During a discussion about fossils, the lecturer asked us what the first living thing on earth was. A student put their hand up and very confidently declared a brontosaurus. Every time I think about that, I picture a primordial earth with all the ingredients of life just waiting to be energised. Then all of a a sudden, brontosaurus. That makes me laugh out loud. Excuse me, I do not know how BSL dealt with that bit. I know I would like that. Can you do that again? That makes me laugh out loud every time. Just the way in my mind, I often wondered who that brontosaurus talked to and what it ate. Or in the middle of the night, when some of us managed to lift a sleeping friend on his mattress out of our dormitory and sliding him under the bed of a teacher. That is a skill. Scuttling back to our dormitory to await the fall-out, sometimes later I made shouting and screaming, our friend reappeared rather wide-eyed and mad with the teachers in tow. We had to wash the minibus inside and out as a punishment and, let me tell you, it was totally worth it. I know that there is a bit of a strangled route to the educational benefit, but the point is that it is a shared experience that I remember. Every time I meet up with a friend from back then, it always comes up. Yes, we learned what we were supposed to in a real, live environment, but we also learned about interaction and camaraderie and made real, lifetime memories. I am not necessarily advocating that children and young people should follow our lead in some of our behaviours, but they should get the opportunity to access learning in a variety of ways and create their own memories from school days. Changing the venue can change people's thought process. Not every pupil is at their best learning in a classroom. Expand the horizons of learning and bring learning to life. Connect with real environments and new opportunities open up for them in their futures. If we only offer a narrow educational pathway, we will only cater for those for whom that pathway works. As Albert Einstein famously said, everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life thinking that it is stupid. There are elements of education and personal development that are crucial in the classroom that are far better learned outside the classroom, like simple interaction and resilience and confidence in team development, focus and attention and problem-solving. If we are to properly tackle health inequality in the attainment gap, I would strongly advocate that we need to ensure that the inequality and access to outdoor experiential learning is also tackled. The Indian country park, where history continues to be uncovered, has told me that the number of school pupils visiting has dropped from 30,000 to 11,000 recently. That can be as simple as schools not being able to afford the coach hire. Perhaps that is the way to use the attainment fund in a practical way, especially if they collaborate with other schools. East Asia Council has collaborated with schools in the area, and a proportion of the attainment fund is used to train the trainers to deliver outdoor learning initiatives, so it can be done. I recognise that the Government has specifically given this money directly to head teachers through the local council conduit to use as they see fit in addressing the attainment gap. It would be churlish of me to suggest that they should now become more prescriptive in how this money is used. However, perhaps highlighting innovative ways of using the attainment fund or effectively sharing best practice can inform head teachers of alternative ways in which they can decide to spend the school's money. My concern is that, like sport and activity, outdoor experiential learning is more and more becoming a personal learning and development tool for those who have, and excluding those who have not. The attainment fund is perhaps one of the ways of addressing this, and let us face it. All our children and young people deserve the opportunity to have their own Brontosaurus story. I call John Scott, to be followed by Ross Greer. I welcome today's debate on the importance of outdoor education in the national curriculum. I congratulate Brian Whittle on securing this debate on the important subject, although it is disappointing to note that no Labour members are available to take part in this debate today. There is a world beyond the classroom and outdoor learning is the gateway to that world, and taking the class outside the classroom, as you will know, can only be rewarding. A child's sense of discovery and curiosity is awakened by the natural world. Outside the classroom, children have a chance to guide their own learning and develop problem-solving skills in ways that are not possible in the confines of a school building. A sense of duty and responsibility to the planet is nurtured as children become more aware of the environment and sustainability, and learning outdoors also helps to improve health and wellbeing, too. A recent national trust survey found that 80 per cent of the happiest people in the UK have a strong connection to the natural world. If schools can foster that strong connection at a young age, so much the better. Indeed, my own childhood on a remote hill farm environment and the moors and bogs between Barhill and Newloos certainly fostered resilience, and I am constantly encouraged to get out from under my mother's feet aged nine or ten, sometimes being a mile or two from home in total isolation, sometimes in self-inflicted potentially dangerous situations, certainly developed in me a sense of danger and awareness of risk and the ability to be sufficiently resourceful to deal with risk in the countryside. However, it is disappointing to learn that opportunities for outdoor education are being stifled by the costs of transport and the squeezing of schools' budgets. This is especially concerning when we see that the national trust for Scotland sites such as Calain, Castle and the RSPB's Mersehead reserve offer such stimulating educational programmes at little or no direct cost. In East Ayrshire, Dumfries House offers outdoor learning courses that support horticulture in the classroom and help with the development of a sustainable school garden. In the Peerbird building and the Kauffman education centre, school children are introduced to organic gardening, food production and how fresh produce links with a healthy diet. Given the invaluable programmes that are on offer, schools across the country should be encouraged to use attainment funding to support outdoor education. There is a solid case for making that happen, and there are well-defined links between access to outdoor education and improved attainment. John Muir award is a very good example of that phenomenon. Four challenges lie at the heart of the award programme. Firstly, school children are encouraged to discover a wild place. They then explore that wild place, take actions to conserve that wild place and, finally, they share their experiences of that wild place. The John Muir award is delivered through more than 600 partner organisations and more than 15,000 awards are achieved each year in Scotland. In a survey of organisations that delivered the programme, 73 per cent agreed that the John Muir award helps the people we work with to improve attainment. The survey also found that the award led to improvement in pupils' self-motivation, self-confidence, self-esteem and a sense of purpose. The evidence is clear. Outdoor learning stimulates a child's personal development and helps to improve attainment. As the great Scottish conservationist John Muir once wrote, in every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. We must do everything in our power to broaden the horizons of our school children in Scotland and therefore have a pleasure in sporting Brian Whittle's motion. Thank you very much, Mr Scott. I call Ross Greed, before by Richard Lochhead, Mr Greed of Dees. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. It's almost a novelty, as agreed, to be selected this early in a debate. For most people— Well, I can drop me down the list if you wish. No, no, I'm very, very great. Although, as Mr Whittle pointed out, it is more a reflection of how few members there are in the chamber, unfortunately, for this debate. For most people, our lifestyles have become too sedentary. We spend too much time indoors, sitting down. Members of this Parliament will be familiar with that, though, with one election falling another this year, many in politics are currently getting much more exercise than we would have otherwise chosen. Too often, that behaviour sets in at an early age. Children sit in school all day, they sit in front of the telly, they play inside. Technology makes it easier to experience the outside world without leaving the indoors, and that's not really experience at all. The importance of outdoor learning cannot be underestimated. Being outdoors and appreciating the natural environment is central to childhood development. Through outdoor learning, children learn to engage with their natural environment, learn about the heritage and improve their own health. That involves discovering Scotland's environment, our history, our culture. Right on our doorsteps here, we have Holyroop Park, with its crags, extinct volcano, the Rune Chapel and its walks. Historic environment Scotland plays a key role in taking school classes to learn about the geography, conservation efforts and the history of land use here. In my own region, there are so many brilliant examples. As highlights, I would suggest Loch Oemond in the Trossacks National Park and the brilliant RSPB reserve at Loch Winnock, both of which have excellent education and outreach programmes that I have been able to experience first hand. At Loch Winnock, I was able to join staff and children in lighting a fire and building their own playground from fallen trees and spotting a variety of birds, insects and ground animals. We must ensure that all children have those kinds of opportunities, and that requires taking a robust but realistic approach to risk. With proper supervision and instruction, it is fantastically valuable for children to set a fire, to use a knife, to take part in a whole range of activities that too often we would consider too dangerous or not age-appropriate. Health and safety is essential, but that does not mean restricting children's ability to get to grips with the world around them. There is no substitute for that direct experience and all the benefits that it brings. In Scotland, we are extraordinarily lucky to have such a beautiful natural environment and rich cultural heritage, not just available to those in more rural areas but also accessible from so many of our towns and cities, although it would of course be more accessible with cheaper and more accessible public transport to get them there. Through outdoor learning, children gain a better understanding of the natural environment that we live in and the importance of protecting it from human over-consumption, from pollution and degradation. They learn to value and respect its intrinsic worth, rather than the financial worth that we are encouraged to assign to everything in our lives. However, it is not only gaining a better understanding of Scotland's natural environment and our heritage that outdoor learning provides. It brings with it a whole host of health benefits, as it encourages children to develop more active and healthy lifestyles. Research has shown that outdoor learning is beneficial to mental health in particular. We have heard in this chamber about problems with child mental health in Scotland, with children facing long waits for services and some not being seen at all. Although I would not suggest for a moment that learning outdoors is in any way a substitute for proper mental health services, it is clear that we must adopt a holistic approach to improving mental health in Scotland. That includes outdoor learning, because the evidence for it is quite clear. Despite its long history here, there has been a decline in children participating in outdoor learning. Curricum for excellence emphasises it, but it is not being consistently delivered. It is often charities delivering the service. Too many local authorities under serious budget pressure have withdrawn from directly supporting it. With the support of charitable bodies and existing public environment agencies, the cost of supporting outdoor learning is not prohibitive. I hope that the Scottish Government and our new Administrations and councils across the country will take that into consideration and look at how they can support outdoor learning for every child in Scotland. I am pleased to be able to support Brian Whittle's debate on the heritage environmental conservation charities' contribution to outdoor learning in Scotland. I want to speak in this debate because it is an issue close to my heart, particularly as former environment secretary, where I came across so many fantastic projects, the length and breadth of Scotland, where children were being introduced to Scotland's amazing countryside and natural environment. Like Ross Greer, I want to ensure that central government, as well as local government, our NGOs, charities and everyone else's role to play, gets behind the massive potential of outdoor learning for Scotland's children and future generations. Brian Whittle started speaking about marine wildlife, and he needed to highlight some of the issues that are facing marine wildlife to our younger people. I also support it, especially as the newly appointed species champion for the Mankie Whale, which I have to put on record. I also want to use this opportunity to say that, a week or two ago, I go at the privilege of speaking at a launch event for the visit to Scottish waters of the Greenpeace vessel Beluga, which is currently going round Scotland's coasts, highlighting the plight to our natural environment caused by ocean plastics, which is becoming an increasingly serious issue, and which is something that our children in school projects and young people of all ages are taking a much closer interest in, as we all should do as parliamentarians as well. I had the opportunity recently to have some discussions with some academics who are looking very closely at some of those issues, particularly Professor Pete Higgins, the Professor of Outdoor and Environmental Education at the Murray House School of Education at the University of Edinburgh, and his colleague Dr Beth Christie. They have, for a number of years, not only been serving on ministerial work groups, but are clearly doing research into the benefits of outdoor education for our children. One recent literature review was called The Impact of Outdoor Learning Experiences on Attitudes to Sustainability, which picks up on some of the themes that other speakers have made already, in that the more outdoor education their children experience, the more they connect to their environment and environmental issues as well. As Beth Christie says in her paper on this subject, a central theme throughout many aspects of literature that she reviewed has been the need to develop an empathy and ethic of care towards the environment. This is a crucial point as attitude and ultimately behavioural change stems from a connection to a place, and in other words, young people will make the effort to love and care for something that they are positively connected to. Therefore, one benefit of outdoor education is connecting young people with sustainability and the need to protect Scotland's environment. The other paper that I want to quote briefly relates to what John Scott was speaking about was The Impact on Attainment and Behaviour in Schools. Again, there are some useful comments in this paper, which I would like to refer the minister to. I hope that he will have a chance to look at that. Some of the key findings in the review refer to the contribution towards increased attainment in specific subject areas such as maths, English, reading, science and social studies, and greater evidence exists to suggest that outdoor learning affords an integration of curricular content in global skill development. It contributes also to attainment levels in our schools' outdoor education, and that is another reason why we should get behind it. I also ask the minister, Mark McDonald, who is closing the debate for the Government, perhaps to arrange a meeting with those two academics, who are basically the foremost experts in outdoor education that I will suggest in Scotland at the moment, because this is something that I am sure that he will find very, very valuable. Finally, in terms of local government supporting outdoor education, there are a number of social enterprises out there in Scotland doing fantastic work that require the support of local government and their new council administrations. I certainly hope that that is the case for the new Murray council administration once it is formed, which I hope will support wild things, which is an award-winning environmental education charity that is working in my constituency, which has already enabled over 13,000 children, young people and adults to learn from and have been inspired by their local natural environment in our wilderness regions of Scotland. I have, thankfully, just been given £47,000 by Helens Nelons Enterprise. There is an organisation based in Fentorn working through Murray and beyond, and it is really important that the Murray council continues to support organisations such as that. There is also another organisation called Earth Time, which has also been delivering projects in Murray and beyond for young people, in this case age 1 to 8. It also runs an outdoor nursery based on the forest school principle as well. Those are the sort of organisations that have appeared on the agenda just in the last few years and deserve the support in central government, but especially local government and other funding organisations in Scotland. I urge the minister to visit my constituency and to visit those two organisations when he gets the chance. Outdoor education is the future of education in Scotland. We have to give it a central role in reaching attainment levels and promoting health and physical wellbeing, both mental and physical, as other speakers have mentioned. Thank you very much. You crammed a lot of requests and invitations and information for the minister there. I hope that you have taken a note. I now call Alexander Burnett, last speaker in the open debate. Mr Burnett, please. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I just note my register of interests, especially those in relation to the National Trust for Scotland and Scottish Land and Estates. I would like to start by congratulating my colleague Brian Whittle on bringing this motion, because, according to the director of the Swedish National Centre for Outdoor Education, studies show that if you alternate outdoor and indoor learning, and the teacher is prepared, you get good results. I was fortunate enough to have spent most, if not all, of my childhood outdoors and continue to try to be a good example of the benefits of outdoor learning. I was also fortunate to live on the doorstep of the National Trust for Crathus Castle and have very happy memories of playing in the woods and finding haze lemonade bottles to recycle through the shop. A journey of forest management, conservation and the circular economy ingrained at a young age. Now, Crathus Castle is visited by over 7,000 children a year, a huge increase on 35 years ago, but it is important that we acknowledge the tireless work that the National Trust does across the whole of Scotland and its role has evolved over the last few decades. Outdoor learning has become one of its main priorities, enabling the trust to teach future generations about Scotland and themselves. The community outreach programme supports groups from different social, financial and cultural backgrounds. In 2016, a section of this programme, Beyond the Gate, delivered over 2,000 hours of education to over 2,000 school children. Young carers are also targeted and the trust developed the counting stars programme to help those who are helping others. Over 25% of young carers miss out on valuable school time, and, as a result, do not get the qualifications needed to get on in life. However, thanks to counting stars, many young carers are being given the tools to overcome these circumstances. This scheme not only enables young carers to get on, but also to find employment as many jobs require experience. Now, such support is not just limited to the third sector organisations such as the National Trust. Bodies such as Scottish Land and Estates similarly encourage their members to promote outdoor learning. An example of this is Mbawu, which means seed in South Africa, which was a finalist for the Helping It Happen education awards. Aimed at 13 to 16-year-olds, many of whom are living in urban areas and experiencing disadvantage or poverty of opportunity, the scheme works with a range of partner estates to deliver a programme that educates about the value and opportunity for employment in the rural sector. All bodies, whether they are public, private or third sector, should receive due recognition for the role in providing outdoor learning and encouragement to do more. I gladly support the motion. I welcome this evening's debate, which was brought forward by Brian Whittle. It provides an opportunity for the Government to restate its commitment to outdoor learning and to acknowledge the great work being done by teachers, support staff and parents across the country. They, along with organisations and charities at local level, are making sure that children and young people have tremendous opportunities to learn in the outdoors. It is no accident that outdoor learning is a key component of curriculum for excellence. The flexibility of which teachers have within CFE to provide alternatives to formal educational settings means that they can use their professional judgment and creativity to deliver lessons in a variety of settings using purposeful play and other activities. By learning in outdoor environments, young people can benefit from meaningful, engaging opportunities to apply their skills and knowledge in a real-life context. Such interdisciplinary learning allows children's learning experiences to be broader and deeper. The benefits of well-constructed and well-planned outdoor learning are numerous and have been well stated by members here today. It connects children and young people with the natural world, with our built heritage and with our culture and society. At the same time, foster is a respect and appreciation for the outdoors that can encourage lifelong involvement. It brings both challenge and enjoyment for children and young people, motivating them to become successful learners and to develop as healthy, confident, imaginative and responsible citizens. There is also growing evidence that increased access to the natural environment has a direct positive impact on physical health and mental wellbeing. In addition to fresh air, exercise and stimulation, it can be instrumental in encouraging and promoting positive behavioural change. We are lucky that, in Scotland, we have a uniquely rich and varied natural environment and centuries of social, cultural and economic heritage on which to draw. Today gives us all a welcome opportunity to recognise the great support that conservation charities such as the National Trust for Scotland and RSPB Scotland, who have both been mentioned, provide to schools looking to learn in beautiful and inspiring settings. The Scottish Government continues to support access to our natural heritage through subsidy schemes such as the heritage travel subsidy grant, which is awarded by Education Scotland and administered by Historic Environment Scotland. The funding has enabled more than 30,000 people from almost 900 Scottish schools to get out and about to explore and to learn from our heritage sites across the country. Members who have spoken this evening of what they see as a lack of opportunity may want to explore the potential of the fund to support the work of schools in their area. The Government also provides a range of support to the third sector, community groups and the youth work sector to promote outdoor learning. Our Children and Young People Early Intervention Fund provides core and project funding for youth work organisations, including those who provide outdoor learning opportunities to the John Muir award and the Duke of Edinburgh award. There are countless examples across the country of schools engaging with and in their local communities to provide stimulating outdoor learning experiences for young people. It is also important that we recognise that learners do not have to go far to benefit from the rich learning experiences that the outdoors can offer. I want to touch on a few of the contributions that have been made throughout the course of this evening. I am going to be very interested to see how the official report handles Brian Whittle's onomatopoeia in this evening's debate and to see how that comes out. However, I was interested by his comments about the exclusion factor in terms of those who are perhaps in our less advantaged communities. It is important that we look at the work that is being done in some parts of Scotland, where partnership working is often a key element in relation to that. I have mentioned it before in the chamber of an example that I saw in my constituency of the Forsands and Fountain family project, which deals with children in communities of deprivation who do not have access to high-quality outdoor learning spaces, where they partnered up with the University of Aberdeen to make use of the botanic gardens at the university as an opportunity for those children to have a quality outdoor learning environment. It is often about partnership working in order to provide some of those opportunities. I think that the point was made by Ross Greer about risk. I want to just say and I have said it previously at a number of events centred around our play agenda that there is a big difference between being risk aware and being risk averse. I want to see more of the former and a bit less of the latter and I think that that would chime with the point that Mr Greer makes. Yes, we have to ensure that risk is managed and mitigated but that does not mean that it has to be 100 per cent avoided in order for children to gain a proper and true appreciation of the benefits of learning in outdoor environments. I am happy to take a brief intervention from Mr Mountain. First of all, I refer the member to my register of interests. SNH will fund taking salmon into the classroom and then allowing the children to take the eggs through hatching and then replant them in the wild. Will the minister give us a clarity that that sort of funding will continue as it does presently under the Government? I was going to talk a little bit about Scottish natural heritage and the development of the Scotland's natural health service action plan, which is aiming to join up a range of work already taking place around encouraging greater understanding of the natural environment. In terms of the specific example that the member raises, which I will freely admit that I was not aware of until he raised it with me, I am happy to look further into that and see what role it plays. It may be that part of that work depends upon, as I said, those partnership approaches between SNH and specific local authorities. What we always have to balance in all of these debates, and it was pointed out by Mr Whittle, is that balance between the Government taking a prescriptive central approach versus allowing that freedom and flexibility at a local level to determine what are the best interventions to support young people's learning in those local areas. That is what the pupil equity funding, which the Government has put in place, is there to deliver. It is about ensuring that headteachers have the ability, both in terms of the resource but also in terms of the flexibility, to determine what are the best approaches for them at a local level. I would expect, as we see the work coming forward in relation to how the pupil equity funding is being applied, that we will see a number of schools that are operating outdoor learning approaches as part of the work that is being delivered through pupil equity funding. Richard Lochhead has done his best to fill up my diary, specifically by taking me to Murray on a number of occasions. I am more than happy to look into that. I think that I have already accepted one invitation from him in relation to one of the organisations that he mentioned. I am also happy to explore how we can use the work of the academics that he cited to perhaps drive some of our agenda in relation to outdoor learning. In my recent statement to Parliament around the expansion of early learning and childcare, I spoke about our agenda to drive forward positive approaches to outdoor learning and to use those opportunities in the early learning setting. That flows through into later educational approaches. There is another element to this, which I think needs to be highlighted. That is that, as well as looking at how outdoor learning can be promoted within our schools, we also have to look at how families can make better use of the opportunities to get outdoors, to get their children interested in the outdoor environment and to build on some of those approaches. If children's exposure to outdoor learning within schools is not then further developed within the home environment, we miss a trick in relation to that. I am keen to look at how we can help to encourage families to be more active and more outdoor focused in terms of some of the approaches that we take around our play agenda. The points that Brian Whittle has raised chime heavily with the agenda that the Government has and that we are seeking to drive forward in partnership with local authorities and other providers. I thank him again for bringing this debate to the chamber this evening.