'The School Looks Around' book, published 1948

Two Devon secondary schools have completed a year-long Daisi project which used creativity to bring issues of society and citizenship to life for young people, and established new and lasting connections between pupils, schools and their local communities.

The idea for Daisi's School Looks Around project originated from the rediscovery of a publication of the same name written in 1948, which promoted the idea of the local survey as an adventurous and open-ended process, a 'voyage of discovery into the life, history and organisation of the locality'.

Pupils at The King's School, Ottery St Mary, and South Dartmoor Community College, Ashburton, worked alongside visual artists to carry out a contemporary survey of their local areas and community, drawing on the resources of Devon Record Office and other heritage organisations. Using sound, text, photography, film, paint, sculpture, print, maps, natural materials and their own possessions, the young people from each school produced their own creative work in response to their local area. An archive has been created from their work and is now permanently stored at the Devon Record Office. 

The School Looks Around project was developed by Daisi in partnership with Devon County Council Libraries, Devon Record Office, Publica (London), The King's School, Ottery St Mary, and South Dartmoor Community College, Ashburton. The lead artist at The King's School was Moose Allain and the lead artist at South Dartmoor Community College was Joe Stevens.