CERC - Current Projects

Environmental Approach to School Curriculum

Education experts at Bath Spa are investigating how to develop a primary school curriculum that is designed by schools and their local communities. The new curriculum is based on sustainability and the relationship between each school and its local environment.

A team from the Children and Environment Research Centre in the University’s School of Education has won a grant of £30,000 from the AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust to carry out the study this year.

The researchers have joined forces with eight primary schools in the Bath and Bristol area to help each one develop a place-based environmental curriculum and associated teaching strategies of its own.

For example, children at Bishop Sutton Primary School have used nearby Chew Valley Lake as the focus of a project looking at historical and geographical changes to the lake. They invited members of the local community to share their memories.


Children from Bishop Sutton School in their local environment at Chew Valley Lake


Newbridge Primary School in Bath has created an interactive online museum, looking at the social history of the school site and how it has changed over the years. Here also local people have taken part alongside the children, recalling their own time at the school and sharing their knowledge.

At Summerhill Infants School, in the St George area of Bristol, children have developed a digital recipe book based on healthy eating. They talked to parents and grandparents about their favourite healthy meals in an intergenerational project reflecting a diverse community. It involved finding out where the ingredients came from and whether they can be sourced from local growers and shops.

Other schools taking part in the study include: Beacon Rise Primary School, Bristol; Colerne C of E Primary School; Courtney Primary School, Kingswood; Pucklechurch Primary School.

Professor Robert Barratt, who is leading the research, says there is growing evidence of the benefits for children and their communities from place-based learning and developing sustainable schools.


Prof. Robert Barrett


He commented: “We are very pleased to have secured this funding from AstraZeneca for our study. Our team is working directly with schools, children and their families. It is an exciting opportunity to advance our thinking about sustainable living and lifestyles.”

A second year of the project is now just starting where the focus is on sharing and disseminating practice within the team and to the wider community.

Project team:

Prof Robert Barratt
Fiona Hunt
Pat Black
Tom Browne
Dr Mark McGuiness (Head of Department, Social Sciences)

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