DORCHESTER: Children reap the rewards of hard work with new classroom and garden

Designed by Nick himself, and with a great deal of support and co-operation between the school, its parents and the PTFA, an incredibly ambitious project has taken shape.

They now have their very own outdoor classroom and edible garden.

The specially created garden has already been planted with a variety of flowers and vegetables, and young fruit trees are in place around the border.

Constructed during the summer, planting began in earnest from September, with an array of scarecrows keeping watch over the children’s hard work. Headmaster Andrew Roberts-Wray said: “We probably have the fittest four-year-olds thanks to their exposure to the elements during our prolonged winter spell.”

Both the garden and the outside classroom will provide rich learning opportunities from the youngest nursery child to the oldest pupil in the school.

It has already enhanced the education of the nursery children with their superbly creative scarecrows and their industrious efforts at planting seeds.

The school’s gardening clubs are gearing up to get stuck into more planting as spring arrives, and the older children are beginning to utilise the area for interactive English lessons.

Watched by the whole school, the official opening was performed by the Mayor of Dorchester, Councillor Susie Hosford, herself a former parent at the school.

Cutting the bright yellow ribbon, she expressed her delight at such an amazing facility and how greatly it would benefit the school. Some singing followed from the nursery children - delightful songs about mini-beasts and blossoming flowers.

Three of the older girls, Natasha Walker, Ellie Watts and Amelia Williams, performed an extract from one of the Harry Potter novels on the subject of making choices and picking teams.

The outdoor classroom and edible garden will give pupils the chance to  learn about plants growing, the life cycle of a flower, and the production of fruit and vegetables they can both nurture and eat. Insects will be attracted to the garden. The whole area will provide an incredible space in which to observe and study.

PICTURE: Mayor of Dorchester, Councillor Susie Hosford, cuts the ribbon to officially open Sunninghill’s new outdoor classroom and edible garden

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