Welcome to our school garden page!
We have been lucky to take part in a cluster project to develop our school garden in conjunction with Ysgol Dyffryn Aman and Adam Jones (Adam Yn Yr Ardd).
Mrs Carby, along with members of the Garden Action Group, have devised a five-phase plan to develop our garden into a space that is not only a fantastic learning environment but also promotes sustainability and the reduction in our carbon footprint. In order to achieve this we have signed up to Let’s Go Zero and are planning to reduce our carbon production to zero by 2030.
The journey so far ….
Phase One of our garden project is to install growing beds for each year group. Mrs Carby and Halle Waters-Jenkins were successful in gaining a grant from (windfarms) which has allowed us to purchase materials and seeds to begin the process. So far, we have managed to build and fill three out of the seven beds. Year 5 and Y Pod Dysgu pupils worked hard to move over a tonne of compost we received from Cwm Environmental. We are hoping, weather permitting, to receive delivery of more compost over the next week so that we can fill the other beds and start planting! Each class has received a propagator and seeds to begin the growing process along with a potato growing tub and seeds. We are hoping to have a yield of potatoes before the end of the summer term and a competition to see which class produced the most!
Phase Two of our project will be the building of a polytunnel. Mrs Carby and the Garden Action Group have been successful in gaining a grant of £1000 from the OVO fund that will pay for our polytunnel. We would be grateful to receive any advice from parents/friends of the school or any polytunnel experts with knowledge on where to locate and how to secure our polytunnel in the garden. Please contact Mrs Carby if you can help.
Phase Three of our project is to plant an orchard. The Garden Action Group have identified fruit trees that once were/are native to our area of the world and are eager to use these fruit trees within our orchard. The orchard will not only produce fruit that we can use and sell but will also produce many learning experiences for our pupils. We have learnt about a variety of apple known as Y Morgan Felys. This apple has a sweet taste and was eaten by miners in the Aman Valley.
Phase Four of our project is to build an outdoor learning centre in the form of a Teepee. The teepee will be big enough to sit over 30 children and will be a fantastic addition to our outdoor learning as well as our literacy AoLE. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in our application for National Lottery funding but Mrs Carby is hoping to access other funding pots as well as planning various fund raising activities in the near future.
Phase five of our project are bees! We understand the importance of bees in our gardens and would like to have bee-hives within our garden to help with pollination of our plants. We have a wildflower area which is already home to a rare breed of butterfly and we think a swarm of bees would be just as happy living in our garden. We plan to train our staff and pupils in bee keeping and are hoping, once the hives are established, to produce our own honey.
Should any of you be keen gardeners, Mrs Carby and the Garden Action Group would be very grateful of your advice on any of the five phases of our plan, so please feel free to contact Mrs Carby via her email mckeed9@hwbcymru.net. Thank you for taking the time to read our page and please keep checking back for updates!
