Nursery World - Enabling Environments: Community

A three-year place-based learning project helped children to locate themselves in the community and wider world, says Will Coleman.

What is school for?' That is the question with which we kicked off our exploration into creating the best possible curriculum for our children and for our community, here in Padstow, Cornwall.

The widely-held assumption is that the purpose of education is to provide individuals with the means to personal 'success'. But what if a school's purpose involved nurturing its own community for a sustainable future?

We asked pupils, staff and community members three questions:

1. What is school for (and what would you like to learn about)?

It is quite surprising just how young children are when they first start to repeat received ideas about schoolwork being important simply because 'exam success' leads to 'getting-a-good-job'! But a little further discussion reveals that children and adults do believe that education is crucial in developing the whole person, the valued member of the community. Our challenge: how can a primary school best help young people develop the attitudes that will lead them to contribute fully to their community?

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