Pupils at Sunfield School for children with severe and complex learning needs have joined arts workers and local villagers in changing the landscape with natural sculptures to make its 60 acres less daunting. A curved path provides a reassuring focus. Younger children skip along it; older ones can learn mathematical principles from it. Undulating willow tunnels, which sprout catkins in spring, follow the shapes created by pupils in dance sessions. Sitting inside, they can experience an oasis of calm. A drystone wall encircles another space for safe play. “All the ideas came from the children,” says dancer Peppy Hills, the project’s co-ordinator. “They wanted water that moves, something high in the trees and something low on the ground. In our dance workshops, they made their own pathways through the space. The way they used pieces of cloth in the dance gave the idea for the willow space.”
The Sunmoves Arts Project report is available from: The Administrator, Sunfield School, Clent, Stourbridge, Worcestershire, DY9 9PB. Price pound;6.