Impact Day  – March 2017

Year 7 students have investigated and designed layouts for the schools wildlife garden. They considered what types of plants they would like to grow, how to support local wildlife and built animal habitats/shelters and how to incorporate spiritual and religious values into the garden which can be enjoyed by all. To begin with, pupils completed ‘birds eye’ view designs from their research which illustrate where they want things to be placed in the plot of land. They presented their ideas and the best were developed into one final idea to be realised.

Groups of year 7 students have spent creative impact days out on the plot working hard to make the garden a reality.  The students have also been working in teams to create seating for the garden. They have used reclaimed timber and basic hand tools to make benches to be placed in the garden. The benches will be sanded down and varnished to ensure they withstand weather conditions.

Pupils have also produced a range of baked goods which they sold at lunchtime to raise money for the Wild Life garden project. They worked in groups to prepare cakes and cookies. They were decorated using a range of ingredients which linked to the wildlife garden theme. Pupils were also responsible for setting up the selling booth in the school foyer area. Pupils followed health and hygiene procedures when participating and ensuring all products passed the quality checks so that they were suitable to be sold.

A small group of pupils ventured into the wildlife garden and worked as part of a team to select stones which they designed, decorated and up-cycled to provide further purpose as creative Aboriginal symbolic message stones. Pupils looked at key symbols and colour theory identified within Aboriginal Art to create their stones portraying messages of peace, happiness and goodwill. Pupils looked at spiritual symbols in other religions to generate further ideas to apply patterns to decorate their message stones. Once created, pupils further considered the way in which these stones could be arranged to provide a functional or aesthetic element to the garden by taking inspiration from environmentalist and sculpture artist Andy Goldsworthy.

We will keep you updated on the progress as the garden comes to life throughout the school year.