Interview with Juliet Robertson

In our second Common Ground interview, Marina Robb and Juliet Robertson discuss:

• What common values underpin our practice with children?
• What is the role of nature in ‘good’ education?
• What policies and ideas are working in Scotland and how can we learn from this?

About Juliet Robertson

Juliet is an educational consultant who specialises in outdoor learning and play. Previously, she was the head teacher of three schools ranging in size from 6 to 277 pupils. Juliet is based in Scotland and has worked at a national level since 2008 writing case studies, documents and doing behind the scenes work to help shape strategy and support for schools and early years establishments. This includes heading up the team that wrote the Education Scotland document, Outdoor Learning: A Practical Guide for Scottish Teachers and Practitioners(2011), co-authoring Loose Parts Play – A Toolkit (2016 & 2019) and being part of the Scottish Government strategy group that created A Play Strategy for Scotland (2013). Most recently, Juliet contributed to Out to Play (2018), a Scottish early years document supporting practitioners to develop off-site provision in local greenspace.

Juliet is in heavy demand world-wide for her practical training. She is the author of two award-winning and best-selling books: Dirty Teaching: A Beginner’s Guide to Learning Outdoors (2014) and Messy Maths: An Outdoor, Playful Approach for Early Years (2017). Her website, Creative STAR Learning is a source of information and support with more than one million visitors in the past four years. Juliet continues to work directly with staff and children in many early learning settings in the North-East of Scotland exploring what excellent outdoor practice can and could be!