Dramatic urban changes were used by Deansfield Comprehensive School to develop a curriculum around design and regeneration that inspired and empowered students.
The demolition of nine blocks of sixties flats close to the school was seen as a significant opportunity to explore how the built environment is changing and the impact of choices on all members of the community. Pupils were intrigued about how the 12 acre site would be developed and this became a focal point for creative coursework involving around 400 young people and their families..
Through discussions with staff and pupils, the theme of regeneration was chosen as a cross curricular context for Creative Partnerships’ work, using the nearby brown-field site to explore how the school community could become involved in planning issues and influence real change in the built environment.
Teachers and pupils, having met with regeneration officers and the borough architect, invited them to visit the school and work in agreed subject areas. Initially this was to explore ‘settlement’ in geography and allow the art department to use drawings and plans. At the same time the Neighbourhood Initiatives Foundation (NIF), the Telford based charity which specialises in techniques for community consultation, agreed to use Deansfield and the project to pilot new ideas for Citizenship using their acclaimed ‘Planning for Real’.
Neighbourhood Renewal Officer John Brothers was quick to see the benefits of using a school as a sounding board for ideas: “I learnt more about the regeneration issues facing the community during an hour’s session with the pupils than in a week of reading reports.