About

Creative STAR Learning Ltd was established in 2007 by Juliet Robertson to provide Support, Training, Advice and Resources on almost all aspects of outdoor learning and play, hence the STAR in the company name.

Until 2022, Juliet was one of Scotland’s leading education consultants who specialises in outdoor learning and play. She worked at a national level delivering training, giving keynote speeches, leading and supporting innovative outdoor projects and writing content for websites, documents and case studies. She was passionate about enabling schools, play organisations and early years settings to provide quality outdoor learning and play opportunities for children and young people. Have a look at the breadth and diversity of Juliet’s work below her biography.

Previously, Juliet also worked at an international level providing inspiring and engaging presentations and training everywhere. She has toured Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and the Czech Republic. She provided the kickstart training for the first outdoor nurseries in Lithuania and worked with universities and schools in Spain and Belgium. She was a keynote speaker at conferences in Finland, Iceland, USA and Canada. However, our world needs people to work locally and Juliet spent the last 4 years of her working life working almost entirely at a local and national level in Scotland.

In July 2024, Juliet was awarded an honorary degree – a Doctorate of Education from Queen Margaret University, in recognition of her pioneering work in outdoor learning and play.

Juliet’s story

Juliet’s interest in working with children outdoors began back in 1986 with a gap year during an Environmental Science degree. During this time, she volunteered in the community and green sectors and worked at Norris Square Neighbourhood Project, (which was in the Eighties) a Puerto Rican urban environmental education centre in Philadephia, USA. Before entering teaching she was a self-employed archaeologist and a seasonal assistant countryside ranger.

As a primary school teacher, Juliet continued to do a variety outdoor activities with children on a frequent and regular basis. She took children for weekly visits to the local woods and kickstarted a school grounds development work. In conjunction with local rangers she set up a lunchtime Wildlife Watch Club. In 1995-96, she had a year-long teaching exchange to Sheldon Outdoor Education Centre in Ontario, Canada. This was a wonderful year and sowed the seeds of many ideas to come.

From 1998 to 2007, Juliet was a head teacher of three different schools, ranging in size from 6 to 270 pupils. She had the privilege of establishing a nursery class that opened in 1999 with two children enrolled. Her international experience continued with study visits and educational trips to Canada, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Norway and Bulgaria which focused on outdoor, environmental and sustainable development themes. In 2004 she won a DEIEP research award for her report into Sustainable Development Education in the Czech Republic.

In 2008, Juliet was the recipient of a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship to study Technologies Outdoors.

In 2022 owing to ill-health Juliet retired.

Juliet’s portfolio of projects and partnerships

From 2008 onwards, Juliet worked with or for many other passionate professionals and organisations to develop outdoor learning and play at local and national levels. Below are some examples of her work. In addition to this, Juliet worked behind the scenes on materials or supporting and empowering others to develop their practice.

Out to Play Section 12: Caring for Our Outdoor Spaces (2023)

This practical guidance is about making the most of the outdoor spaces your early learning and childcare settings use and caring for the environment through embedding Learning for Sustainability.

Play is the Way (edited by Sue Palmer) (2020)

“Play is the Way brings together leading practitioners, policy-makers and academics to explain how a coherent approach to early years – centred on positive relationships and play – will not only result in better educational performance but in greatly improved health and well-being for future Scottish citizens. They challenge the deeply-ingrained cultural acceptance, throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK, that formal instruction in the three Rs (reading, ’riting and ’rithmetic) should begin at the age of four or five – at least a year before other European countries.” Juliet wrote the chapter about early years maths.

Loose Parts Play: A Toolkit – 2nd Edition (2019)

This is an update to the original 2016 document. The updated Toolkit provides a greater focus on helping adults develop the skills to support inclusive, all-weather outdoor play in Scotland and encourage them to allow children to play in a less structured and more imaginative manner. Published in August 2019.

Out to Play: Practical Guidance for Creating Outdoor Play Experiences in Early Learning and Childcare (2018)

Developing outdoor provision of all kinds is a central aspect of the early year 2020 expansion in Scotland. This document aims to provide advice about the nitty gritty of finding and setting up a site, what to look for in staff, some of the agencies to involve, factors to consider around emergency procedures and so on. Published December 2018. Juliet wrote substantial amounts of the initial draft and did other behind the scenes work.

Messy Maths: An Outdoor Playful Approach for Early Years (2017)

The book had to be re-printed within three weeks of being published in July 2017. It starts with observing children play, looking at the maths that is inherent within their activities and providing a range of extensions through considering the resources, routines, responsibilities of adults and re-imagining the outdoor space. It has received various awards and has been an ongoing education bestseller. Now available as an Australian edition and will shortly be translated into Korean and Italian.

Loose Parts Play Toolkit (2016)

This is a practical guide to developing loose parts play sessions in schools, early learning, childcare and play organisations. It contains lots of advice, ideas, resources and time saving tips. Juliet co-authored this work with Theresa Casey. Published 22nd September 2016 by Inspiring Scotland in association with the Play Strategy for Scotland and the Scottish Government.

Dirty Teaching: A Beginner’s Guide to Learning Outdoors (2014)

The ultimate companion to this website! It provides more than 200 ideas, suggestions and activities to help any primary school teacher develop the habit of working outside on a frequent and regular basis all year round. You don’t need tobe a budding David Attenborough or an extreme adventure sport enthusiast to work outside with children. It’s about putting good teaching skills to work outside. And wearing a nice hat…! The Amazon No.1 Bestseller in the Outdoor Learning category.

A Play Strategy for Scotland (2013)

Juliet was part of the Scottish Government’s working group which was set up to produce Scotland’s first play strategy. There are two parts: the Vision – published in June 2013 and the Action Plan – published in October 2013. In November, the Play Strategy for Scotland gained cross party support when it was debated in the Scottish Parliament. Great result!

Mission Explore: Food (2012)

This wonderfully fresh approach to growing, harvesting, cooking, eating, composting and decomposing food is the brainchild of the brilliant Geography Collective. Juliet chipped in and wrote some of the soil missions. Published in September 2012.

Do-Be Teach-IT Outdoors (2011)

This early years and primary resource was jointly written by Ollie Bray and Juliet Robertson. “From virtual reality into the real world, Teach IT Outdoors brings a fresh approach to making the most of your school grounds, local area and beyond.” Published in April 2012.

Outdoor Learning: Practical guidance and support for teachers and practitioners in Scotland (2011)

This Education Scotland publication provides practical and straightforward advice about embedding outdoor learning in your school or setting. It was written by Juliet along with input from: Mark Baker, Lynnette Borradaile, Ollie Bray, Margaret Hearne, Daniel Raven-Ellison, Jill O-Reilly, Kirsty Robertson and Grounds for Learning. It’s free to download and well worth a look!

Building your Curriculum: Outside and In (2011)

This document supports a strategic approach to the development of outdoor learning and provides a framework and process for collaborative planning and review. Check out the vision statement! Written by Juliet with thanks to Alison Drever – unsung mastermind of all things curriculum!

Learning Outside the Classroom: Theory and Guidelines for Practice (2011)

This handy little book has been written by Simon Beames, Robbie Nicol and Pete Higgins, who are all based at the Outdoor Education department at Edinburgh University. The forward was written by Richard Louv as it is a book written for an international audience of teachers. Juliet was the critical friend providing ongoing feedback and thoughts as the book was being written. It was a rare privilege indeed.

Woods for Learning Case Studies (2011)

This series of case studies highlights woodlands as a rich context and resource for learning. For example involving parents in community action, developing woodlands for play at lunchtimes and using Forest School as part of an Intermediate Biology course in S4. The case studies cover early years, primary and secondary sectors. This work was funded by Forestry Commission Scotland.

Experiences and Outcomes Guides for Outdoor Learning (2010)

This contract involved going through all Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes and coding them to ensure that outdoor learning opportunities were identified at each level. These can be viewed on the Education Scotland website.

Scottish Earth Science Education Forum (SESEF) Resources (2009)

In her early days of being an education consultant, Juliet did a lot of work on Earth Science with SESEF, which no longer exists. This included:

Putting together the Ice Age Free CPD events in 2009 with Catherine Morgan and Ginger Franklin on behalf of SESEF.
A Primary Earth Science Outdoors guide (2010), written to aid teachers in getting outdoors with pupils, exploring their local area and finding out more about the Earth. It was jointly written by Juliet Robertson and Angus Miller. It’s suitable for early years through to upper primary and relevant to any country or climate. There are three sections: Introduction, Activities, Resources.
The Stone Detectives of St Machar Cathedral, Aberdeen. This resource packs helps upper primary children explore the stonework of St Machar cathedral which has a history and a legacy connected with the fortunes of this community. Co-written with Peter Craig.