Schools landscape literacy project

Schools landscape literacy project

Mend the Gap is funding two initiatives to encourage primary and secondary schools in the programme area to better understand and engage with the Chilterns and North Wessex Downs National Landscapes, while also improving their local school environment.

Schools in the target programme area have been offered an audit of their grounds and the opportunity to apply for a grant. These advisory visits, carried out by industry leaders Learning through Landscapes will identify ways that the school grounds can become functional and inspiring places for learning and play and actively support students’ personal development. The schools are being supported to apply for funding from Mend the Gap to implement the audit’s recommendations, which might include anything from habitat creation to interpretation of the area’s local heritage.

Four secondary schools have also had the opportunity to take part in a school- based discovery workshop hosted by The Visionaries, which encouraged students to develop an understanding of their immediate landscape at school and acquire the vocabulary to describe and engage with it. Students took part in an off-site workshop at the Hardwick Estate in the Chilterns, where they were introduced to a variety of landscape management techniques and had the chance to explore the unique nature of the site.

So far…

Six primary schools and three secondary schools have had visits and reports from Learning through Landscapes:

  • Basildon Primary
  • Streatley Primary
  • Whitchurch Primary
  • South Stoke Primary
  • Cholsey Primary
  • Woodcote Primary
  • Langtree Secondary
  • Wallingford Secondary
  • Denefield Secondary

Three groups of secondary students have attended a full day festival of activities at the Hardwick estate, including shepherding, willow weaving and fermenting vegetables from the market garden for the winter months. These students then took part in further workshops to finalise their school’s grant proposal.

We are now supporting the schools to write their grant proposals.

The following schools have received grants:

  • Whitchurch Primary for nature recovery and outdoor learning.
  • Langtree Secondary for natural flood management, shelter and seating.

Take a look at our gallery below, we will keep posting images of this project as they are submitted.