Since 2021 we…
Pupils and teachers learn how to stay safe around our coasts and waters
Education
Argyll Hope Spot Education | Overview
Since 2021 we have been developing and delivering our education programme with primary schools across Argyll. Our education programme is delivered in collaboration with Heart of Argyll wildlife, Dan Coyle (aka Swim Dan the Merman), local schools and our snorkelling artists residency alumni artists. Our programme includes classroom based lessons and field trips. Across our programme pupils benefit from working with a diverse range of expert practitioners including scientists, artists and outdoor educators.
We have developed a program of 6 core sessions. Schools can choose to undertake all six sessions, or a mix of only those that suit them. We can host multiple sessions in a day with a single school, or spread them across a term or school year.
A primary pupil from Argyll holds their first Crab
Additionally, we can connect schools with our community champions CROMACH (delivered through Seawilding) and CAOLAS who provide their own education programmes, focusing on their marine restoration activities. In these instances we work with our partners to ensure our programmes are working in harmony and providing the highest quality sessions to students.
We recognised that there was space and need for an organisation dedicated to inspiring curiosity for our coasts and waters in local communities and further afield. We start with the understanding that if people can not see something, they can not understand it. If they can not understand it, they will not fall in love with it or take pride in it. Without a love for nature and pride in what we have here they will not work to protect it for future generations.
Pupils getting close to marine species in and out of the water!
With our hypothesis that there was appetite and need for projects which illuminate the world hidden beneath the waves, we began testing ideas in 2021. To build these ambitious projects from scratch has taken time, tenacity and input from so many partners and friends. Each year we have developed and grown them a little further; becoming more confident in our approach and refining them along the way.
It is important that our projects help to reduce the barriers to accessing and learning about our coasts and waters. It is also important that our projects support those living and working alongside marine habitats in Argyll to continue to do so. Our schools programme is offered for free to schools and pupils; and we support additional costs where we can. It is surprising how many pupils in Argyll have little to no direct experience of our coasts and waters, so wherever
An artist sketches life growing on the underside of a pontoon
In 2024 we hosted our fifth Snorkelling Artists Residency. This residency has proved incredibly popular amongst artists from Argyll, nationally and internationally and as a result our applications have been hugely oversubscribed each year. Rather than offering the residency through a new open call for 2024 we took the decision to revisit applicants who had previously made it to our shortlist, but had been unsuccessful on their first application. We did this for a number of reasons. Firstly, as we had committed to our partnership with Carna Conservation to host Carna Hope Week, some of our Project Coordinator time was redeployed to this, so we had to find ways to deliver the residency with reduced team capacity. By eliminating the organisation and management of the open call process whilst revisiting previous applications we were able to reduce the resource needed and deliver both projects to a high standard. Secondly, we had noticed that many excellent candidates hadn’t reapplied after being unsuccessful in their first application. We knew that our programme was missing some exceptionally promising talent.
We approached about 10 previous applicants, and six were able to accept our offer of a place on our 2024 residency. In 2023 Kilchoan Melfort Trust kindly hosted us at their site in Loch Melfort, and provided accommodation for our residents as an in-kind donation. In 2024 we further strengthened this partnership. Kilchoan Melfort Trust once again generously provided accommodation as well as use of their facilities and access to the expert knowledge of their staff. With Kilchoan Estate as our base we have been able to provide our residency at no upfront cost to participants.
Carna Hope Week
