Skyswood Primary School
"Pupil voice has a high profile at Skyswood Primary School and the School Council are eager to develop their external environment with a focus on increasing bio-diversity in the school grounds. A starting point has been excavation work in order to create a pond within their environmental area. Thanks to a parent donation, the school were able to dig and line a pond that is roughly seven metres in length, averages two metres in width and has a maximum depth of 90cms.
FOSS (Friends of Skyswood School Parents’ Association) have worked closely with the School Council on the project and funded a large selection of carefully chosen pond plants to furnish the pond in the first phase of this project. A bring-a-stone-to-school initiative encouraged all children to make a small personal contribution, and the Year 6 Pottery Club even made an artificial coral reef, creating some wonderful clay corals that were fired and glazed to earthenware temperatures. The pond will become an ideal environment for newts and frogs. It will certainly be used as a resource to enrich many curriculum areas, including science and environmental studies.
We have installed a fence around the pond, with hedgehog holes, making it a designated ‘wild area’. We will allow grasses and plants to grow within the area and add log piles to develop a really inviting wildlife habitat that will attract pollinators and a wider range of creatures. We have created a dead-hedge in the school’s ‘stick area’ and plan to implement a wider range of forest school and outdoor learning experiences for the children.
The School Council were supported and advised by Heidi Mansell and Esme Staunton-Howe (Wilder St Albans Project) and Herts Fisheries were also extremely helpful with advice regarding native plants and appropriate oxygenators. Heidi and Esme attended two of the School Council meetings and worked closely with the school advising on the design, location and construction of the pond. As you can imagine, the children are incredibly excited by the project and have already noticed a number of creatures that have already taken up residence!"
- Bob Bridle, Head Teacher at Skyswood Primary