Sunnyside Environmental School

On Friday 7 May, forgetting about the UK election results, I spend a fantastic day at Sunnyside Environmental School in Portland. What a riot of colour and interest. Although this is a 'public' or state school, the principal Sarah Taylor, has created a learning environment where life revolves around the seasons, breaking down the artificial barriers between the school, the local community and the natural environment. The curriculum framework involves students aged 6 to 14 in the communal rituals of growing, preparing and eating food, in 'service-learning', or working in the community to solve problems the students have identified, and in plenty of outdoor time to play, to learn about 'real' life and to be. The curriculum framework is built around mountains, forests and rivers - everything is taught through the natural world. I am so impressed by the confidence, level of awareness and maturity of the students, but most of all by their wisdom.

Although Sunnyside is only a few blocks from the centre of the city the small plots of garden around the school contain everything from potatoes for the kitchen to medicinal herbs to gorgeous flowers. There is even a chicken coop to provide fresh eggs.

There is student artwork and colour wherever you look - inside and out. While I am there there is a 'poetry slam', in which 6 year olds read out their beautifully-illustrated poems, then have a celebration with school-cooked food. The whole atmosphere is one of a close-knit supportive community where life is an enriching experience and everyone is valued.

It is a beautiful day, so I chat to the principal outside, while watching a maths class practising long division in chalk on the pavement.

It is certainly a far cry from the grey, hectoring school I attended in Scotland, where joy, individuality and ideas were soon lost without trace in a quagmire of tests and uniformity. It's also a couple of important steps on from what we know in Scotland as 'environmental education'. Once again it is hard to believe that Sunnyside, despite its good test standards in literacy and numeracy, is considered non-conformist and strange by the District and State school authorites, who seem only vaguely aware of what the school actually does.