Dines Green Primary: Pupils give views to city university (From Worcester News)

Dines Green Primary: Pupils give views to city university

11:05am Tuesday 25th May 2010 in News

TALENTED pupils from a Worcester school have been carrying out a sustainability survey of the University of Worcester.

Dines Green Primary School pupils were invited by the university as part of a widening participation programme, in conjunction with Worcestershire County Council, where they were able to interview both staff and students to come up with sustainable improvements.

Stephen Pickering, senior lecturer in primary education at the University of Worcester, invited pupils to answer the question: “Does the university care for people and places, now and in the future, near and far?”

The children were then able to present their ideas to the university – which ranged from recycling, to changing attitudes towards sustainability.

Mr Pickering said: “Most children equate sustainability with recycling and saving energy. We used the word ‘care’ to develop a deeper understanding of sustainability in a more personally active manner.”

The scheme gave the opportunity for trainee teachers to help the children, as well as allowing the children to learn about various sustainable developments already in place.

These ranged from fair trade and locally sourced food policies, to equal opportunities and support for students with particular needs or disabilities.

Mr Pickering said: “This has been a great way of engaging schoolchildren in the university and getting them to look at sustainability and thinking how they could make improvements.”

The University of Worcester is Britain’s fastest growing university.

by Alex Cook