At the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, the Peace Garden located at the back of the school was in a sad state and had been closed off to students for safety reasons. An area of decking had become rotten and had to be removed, and the whole area was in desperate need of some renovation:

The PTA were asked to restore the garden in time for this summer. We organised a number of volunteer work sessions throughout the year, mostly on a number of rather wet weekends, where around a dozen parents helped us dig, level, paint and plant.

We were also assisted by a number of parents with particular expertise: Ben Hardy helped with groundwork, Sam Fathi with carpentry for the new planters, Will Porter helped us with re-roofing and Cristiano Brand with construction of a new access ramp:

New equipment installed in the garden included eight large wooden planters, four new benches, a water capture system, a tool shed and tools for children to use.

The storytelling chair placed in the garden in memory of Ms Gill Gallagher in 2016 was taken to the Ringway Centre woodworking shop, where Clare, Nicola and Julie worked to restore and refinish it.

Finally, PTA trustee Sam, who had spent months cultivating plants from seed at home, assisted the school’s own Green Team with planting the first new plants and flowers of the garden. As of June, the garden has been transformed and is ready for the children to enjoy again.

£1,000 of funding for the garden was provided by Tesco as part of its Stronger Starts grant programme. The remaining costs were fundraised by the PTA throughout the year.

This has been a huge project, but the results are fantastic and we’re so happy that the garden is once again open for the children to enjoy. A huge thank – you to everyone who has helped make it happen: we couldn’t have done it without you.

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