Focus on a sustainable community and STEM

As a hub for our new activities, we have plans for a new building in the school grounds. Designed by local company OCR Architecture and built using sustainable design principles, this building will incorporate a light and adaptable learning/event space, a raised deck area overlooking our woods, kitchen, toilets, changing area, drying facilities for outdoor clothing,  storage room, child-accessible open shelving for resources and high-tech audio and visual equipment. This inspirational, welcoming space will be fully equipped to support STEM and sustainability engagement for schools and community.

The Discovery Centre will become the powerhouse for a wide range of new activities for children, families and the wider community,  designed to promote innovative thinking and empower individuals and groups.  Activities can include workshops, talks, films, clubs, theatre, social events and exhibitions.

In 2022 we established the entire school grounds as a micro reserve within the North Devon Biosphere. Focused on outdoor learning, the reserve is maintained by the children as rangers, and managed by a child-led eco committee. The new building will sit at the heart of the reserve, as a base from which the children can manage this important natural resource.

We have been collaborating with the University Centre for Northern Devon and the Royal Society to develop a Tomorrow's Climate Scientists project. Partnering with local scientists and other experts and linking to the local Nature Recovery Plan, this is the first step in establishing pupils as valued young scientists within their community,  raising their self-expectations whilst also encouraging them to have a voice in local environmental issues.

The children can link research findings from their project investigations to local biodiversity and climate change projects in the area, including the North Devon   Biosphere‘s community projects. They can also share experiences, methods, research reports and new research opportunities with other schools and groups.

Key to this initiative is giving children, young people and under-represented groups a safe space to find their voice and their role within their community, with the support to achieve. This includes responding sensitively to the diverse ways in which individuals feel comfortable engaging with developing a  sustainable community and exploring STEM.

In response to plans for a new Appledore Clean Maritime Innovation Centre, and with local educational and career opportunities emerging in Offshore Renewable Energy,  Aquaculture, Clean Maritime, Ocean Environmental Data and Green Hydrogen, we are working with Torridge District  Council, the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, Petroc, the Northern Devon Maritime Cluster and the Northern Devon Manufacturing Association to contextualise our STEM and sustainability  engagement, becoming a valuable educational element within this exciting new careers pipeline.

With an existing art studio in the school grounds and Appledore rich in artistic talent, we will be combining these valuable resources to incorporate art within our engagement model. This fast-developing approach is referred to as STEAM.

We are exploring, with the University Centre for Northern Devon and Petroc, how this uniquely collaborative and contextualised engagement model could become a part of the learning experience for trainee teachers and early years educators, ensuring that they carry an innovative approach to education for  sustainability with them into their future roles in local schools and beyond. We also work on projects with students from a range of other courses and offer research and work experience opportunities.

Our approach in this initiative is designed to be exciting and fun, with the building providing a centre that offers discovery, discussion, social interaction, investigation, knowledge sharing  and challenge. The design of the building includes an immersive video experience and the technical facilities to connect remotely to an international network of experts and communities, for knowledge sharing.