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In this unit, children help to plan, consult on and implement ways of improving their school grounds. The unit could be used to initiate small-scale projects to improve one aspect of the school site, eg putting in new plants and containers, or larger-scale projects, eg redevelopment of the school playground. The focus is on the children reviewing their play facilities and the features of their existing playground, and examining how these are used by different members of the school and local community. The children develop ideas and discuss and consult on them with different members of the school community. They work in groups, democratically agreeing priorities for change, and come up with a plan for their implementation. They investigate the costs and limitations of different plans and begin to learn about the importance of project planning. Throughout the project, they communicate their ideas to others in the school and reflect on their participation.
The activities in this unit could be used by the whole school, with different groups/classes of children exploring different aspects of developing the school grounds, eg improving the quality of play facilities and access to them, developing a cultivated garden, making an area for wildlife, creating an outdoor arts space or an outside classroom, investigating health and safety issues associated with the playground and reviewing the school policy accordingly.
This unit could be linked with education for sustainable development, geography, science and PE. Some of the links are indicated in the 'Points to note' section. It also links with unit 1 'Taking part - developing skills of communication and participation'.
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