South Cumbrian students have taken part in a hands-on coastline restoration project to help repair a stretch of eroded saltmarsh.
Year nine students from Dallam School in Milnthorpe worked alongside researchers from Lancaster University on the project at Hest Bank.
The scheme grew out of the school’s involvement in the Morecambe Bay Curriculum and a partnership between geography teacher Becky Shanley and Dr Suzi Ilic of Lancaster University.
The environment plays a role in the Morecambe Bay ecosystem by helping to store carbon, filter pollutants, support wildlife and protect the coastline from erosion.
The saltmarsh at Hest Bank has been heavily eroded over time.
In the classroom, students explored what saltmarsh is, why it matters, where it is found, why it is under threat and how it can be restored.
During an in-school workshop, they worked with Dr Ilic and a Lancaster University master’s student to build sediment traps from natural materials.
The students worked through the practical challenges of designing and weaving their structures before travelling to Hest Bank to deploy them.
Ms Shanley said: “The opportunity to work with Lancaster University and the Morecambe Bay Curriculum team has been invaluable.
“It has allowed our students to go beyond learning about geographical issues in theory and instead work alongside people who are actively tackling those challenges.
“That has made their learning more relevant, more empowering and more connected to the place where they live.”
The Morecambe Bay Curriculum was designed to encourage young people to connect geographical knowledge with sustainability and real-world problem-solving.
Ms Shanley added: “This is the first time many of our students have been able to take part in an activity where they can revisit a site to see the positive impact they are having on the environment.
“A lot of fieldwork involves seeing, studying and measuring, but this time they have the chance to enact real change.”
