I completed my very first summer course with Fluirse last week and I can honestly say it was excellent. I completed ‘Education for Sustainable Development using Fabric and Fibre’ and have come away feeling inspired, informed and equipped with the relevant resources to implement sewing in the Primary School setting. A feeling I love upon finishing a course, as it feels like time well spent.

Disclaimer: I completed this course free of charge with Fluirse in exchange for a review. This review is my 100% honest opinion and will outline what I found beneficial.

Follow the course author on Instagram: @sew_sustainable_

What is this summer course with Fluirse about?

On completion of this course you will have been introduced to practical ways to incorporate sustainable development into the classroom through the use of fabric and fibre.  You will also as a teacher learn why you should prioritise sustainable development in the classroom. You will be enabled to attempt the application of some fabric and fibre techniques for the sake of sustainable development through the classroom and school.

I learned an awful lot more about fast fashion and sustainability myself through this course. A lot of the statistics regarding clothing actually stunned me and made me realise how important it is to educate our children about sustainability. This course not only explains how to teach children about these issues, but equips you with resources to teach the children to sew.

The curriculum is very full on, as we all know. Therefore adding another element to it, such as sewing, may seem like too much in terms of “fitting everything in”. This course cleverly shows you how to incorporate sewing into the ‘Fabric and Fibre’ strand of the Visual Arts curriculum. As a result, children are taught important, sustainable life skills, without having to squeeze it in to an already busy curriculum.

Miriam, the course author, has included simple step-by-step videos in how to complete different stitches, which will be extremely useful in the classroom setting too. There are lesson plans available also from Junior Infants right up to Sixth Class too, leaving you feeling equipped upon completion of this Fluirse course.

Image taken from the Fluirse course.

Fluirse Summer Courses – What I like:

• Clear, concise PowerPoints for each module – the slides are filled with key points, statistics and relevant information. However, they aren’t overloaded with text (very important in my opinion). It’s easy to digest the content with a mix of text, podcasts and video clips.
• There is a good balance of text and video clips to give a clearer understanding of the content.
• Within the course, there are links to recommended readings and podcasts. This allows you to further your knowledge of sustainability.
• There is a requirement to comment on a forum after each module and respond to another person’s comment too. This was extremely beneficial in my opinion. People shared a wealth of ideas in how to be more sustainable in the classroom and also how to differentiate a sewing lesson. I took so many notes from other teachers in these forums.
• Content is relevant, different and so important. This course has really opened my eyes to that. Sustainability is something that our children can make a difference in, through re-using items, learning to sew and much, much more.
• It is EPV approved.

As teachers we play such a vital part in being a role model for the children in terms of sustainable actions. When we’re passionate and taking action on something, they become inspired too. I’d highly recommend this course with Fluirse to anyone. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I feel inspired to incorporate sewing into the Fabric and Fibre strand of the Visual Arts curriculum and also as an extra curricular activity in the school too.

For more ways to be sustainable in the classroom, check out this post: Sustainable Habits every Teacher should Develop