ABSTRACT
There are more than 30,000 schools in the United Kingdom, covering an area of at least 150,000 acres. This land is, in the main, a miserable, bleak and desolate landscape. That this is also the first public environment of which children have any sustained experience is a national disgrace. It shapes children’s views of place and people, in many cases in very harmful ways. It does nothing to encourage positive social interaction or the development of a sense of pride or aesthetic awareness. As I have written elsewhere: ‘when torturers wish to disorientate their victims, they frequently create a featureless environment in which to place them’ (Lucas 1992).
