SpACE

Special Project – Accessing the Curriculum through the Environment

There are 2 ‘arms’ to this project, which aims to use the outdoor environment to enhance the children’s learning;

• The Ecological curriculum.
• The Energy curriculum.

Over the past few years the school site has been developed so that there are lots of different areas for a variety of activities. There are enclosures for animals; class gardening areas; the pond dipping area and weather station; the Mediterranean garden; the withy dome; the South African Lapa (thatched outdoor classroom); the bark trail; sand pit; fossil wall and henge of  limestone rocks from a local mine.
Central to this there is a performance area that is also the ‘Energy Arena’.
This area lends itself very naturally to outdoor performances, particularly for the Shakespeare Season and the Talent Show, both in July. An amphitheatre provides lots of seating for an audience or for class/group discussions and the decking outside the Music Pavilion provides a roomy stage.  Situated all around this facility are the Renewable energy installations - hence the reason the area became known as the ‘Energy Arena’.

The SpACE project has also brought a richness of voluntary involvement to the school. Parents and extended families; pre-school children; ex pupils; partner institutions; local people and experts have all played a major role in developing these exciting opportunities for the children – and  of learning the enjoyment of community  collaboration, which often extends beyond the school.