Learning and Creativity this Autumn

During half term we have been getting outdoors and enjoying the autumn colours and bright sunshine. The green leaves are turning and dropping off the trees to rest and make way for new growth in the Spring. Autumn is a time for preparing for change, and getting ready for winter. 

What can you do this autumn to make the most of the out doors and the beautiful autumn colours? We collected different leaves and made an autumnal bouquet; we have been inspired to try some painting in these colours and we have been trying out composing some poetry too. One benefit of the shorter days is seeing the sunrise and sunset colours. But not everyone has short days and distinct seasons.


Talking with our colleagues in The Gambia and Sierra Leone this morning we were comparing the weather. This is something we are programmed to do here in the UK for some reason. Did you know that in The Gambia and Sierra Leone there are only 2 seasons dry and rainy season? Temperatures there this week were 42 degrees, we would love some of that heat over here in the UK right now but the trade-off for nearly year round sunshine is that they have heavy rains from July to October and due to Climate Change much like us they are experiencing strange weather at all times of the year.


Have you noticed this year that there have been huge crops of acorns? Well across the UK Oak trees are all producing an extraordinarily large crop of acorns. This is actually a natural phenomena, every few years some species of trees and shrubs produce a bumper crop to ensure that there is far more seed than can ever be eaten by predators, to ensure that there will be plenty to sprout and grow. This is called a ‘Mast Year’ as the collective term for fruits and nuts is ‘mast’. Find out more about this phenomena on the Woodland Trust website (https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2020/10/what-is-a-mast-year/). So, this year is a Mast Year for Oak, and there has been a lot of rosehips too.

We have been enjoying learning ourselves whilst hosting our Life Long Learning Series as well as welcoming lots of new people who have discovered the Steve Sinnott Foundation for the first time. We have discovered the possibilities of what can be done in an online conference, and tested out creative workshops, working together and how Zoom can be used to enhance learning for all and connecting with people all over the world. Which makes us feel strongly about the Global Digital Divide and what we can do about it.


We’d like to thank everyone who has taken part so far and share the two autumn poems we created in Sovel’s Quiet Mind Poetry webinar.

Autumn Seeds


Acorns and conkers

The currency of our future

This is not just a seed

It is a heart inside a hand

It is a pearl within a shell

It is a dream above the clouds


Seeds create comforting feelings in my hands

From the decomposition and decay of Autumn

New lives will be generated

And mighty trees will grow.


Seeds of the autumn

Hand in hand

The acorn and the conker.

Outdoors


Shared joy to be outdoors,

So fresh, summer flowers gone,

Flush of pink in cheeks.

 

Pink and red stripes against green,

Swelling and growing behind lost flowers,

Small dark seeds growing inside.

 

Anticipating the conker tree,

Crunchy flesh, waiting to be eaten,

Shiny conkers, waiting to be chosen.

 

Watching the pup smile,

Happy to walking too and,

Sharing joys outdoors.


Please share this post with anyone who would find it interesting, and leave a comment below to let us know what you have been doing this Autumn.


Thankyou for sharing the learning!

The Steve Sinnott Foundation • October 29, 2020

An Education Revolution

By Ann Beatty • April 6, 2025
This week while out and about in Hertfordshire and we visited the British Schools Museum. We discovered the first school opened by Joseph Lancaster, was known as the ‘Poor Childs Friend”, was in 1810. It was his lifelong mission that all children regardless of their circumstances, should benefit from an education. Apparently, Joseph heard a small girl say, “Oh that I could read!” and this inspired him to create a simple education system that eventually would benefit children across the world. Joseph was the tenth son of a poor man himself from South London. His aim was to offer free education for everyone. However, it would be 93 years before the U.K. government finally made education free for all. There are still many countries today where education is still not free to access and it is certainly not compulsory for primary and secondary age pupils. Joseph’s mission really resonates with that of the Foundation, to support access to education for all. We enjoyed our visit and appreciated the tour given by two of the Museum’s volunteers, Angela and Clare. They described some of the challenges faced in the early years of formal education and shared some of the rules that teachers and students had to abide by with us. 

Sparks Bristol

By Ann Beatty • April 4, 2025
Sparks Bristol is a collaborative community project initially envisioned by The Global Goals Centre, (GGC) more of which below. A few years ago, GGC took over an empty Marks and Spencer store and that’s how Sparks was born. Sparks is a department store with a difference, co-created by Global Goals Centre and Artspace Lifespace. On the ground floor is a huge range of shops, installations, events and more. Upstairs is a hub for local artists, it offers affordable studios as well as rehearsal and performance space. The Global Goals Centre is a Bristol-based educational charity inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals. (SDGs). GGC believe the SDG’s or Global Goals as they are sometimes known, can be reached, with imaginative solutions and widespread education and engagement. They work with partners to promote creative solutions and deliver ground breaking projects that work towards these ambitious goals. The Steve Sinnott Foundation supported the Global Goals Centre with seed funding when it first started over 5 years ago. This month we went to visit them to see how they are getting on and we were taken aback by the volume of work they have achieved since they started. It is amazing to see how though working together with other local community groups it has grown into the vibrant centre it is today. All of the creative projects they host are linked to the SDGs. They cover topics that tackle poverty, education, climate change, fashion recycling and upcycling, to name a few.

Spring is Here! Looking Ahead!

By Ann Beatty • March 28, 2025
Spring is definitely here, daffodils, blossom and crocuses are all basking in the bright sunshine. There is still a chill in the air in the shade but it's happening and all the seeds that were sown over the last few months are coming to fruition. At the Foundation, we have been planning the year ahead and our Positive Periods and Prevention of Gender Based Violence programmes got underway this weekend in Haiti and Ghana. These projects will have a long-lasting effect on the lives of the women and girls who take part: tackling the root causes of gender-based violence and enabling girls to attend school every day when they have their period, to feel safe at school and know how to take action when they are faced with violence. These are the first of many projects planned for the year ahead as we continue to work towards Education for All children everywhere.