Strathblane Primary Grounds Team
Autumn Welly Day
Thank you so much to all those who came along and helped on our welly day. We had a great turn out and completed many tasks. We did our first experiment of the daily mile path. This is a 10 meter section to see how it weathers and how much work it was! All the bushes and hedges were trimmed back and the willow tunnel had some of the branches trimmed. Another big job was to extend the fence around the pond area to make it more accessible for large groups of children. The shed and greenhouse were cleaned out and a full van load of stuff from around the grounds was taken to the dump. Thankfully the weather was mostly sunny enough to get the gaga ball pit repainted and all the benches around the grounds. More slabs were laid around the bike shelters and many other tasks were also completed. The children worked hard to add another tonne of stones to the firepit area. Thank you to all the parents, grandparents, children and staff who came along to help. Another very successful welly day!
Welly Day Success
Thank you once again to all those who worked tirelessly throughout the day to help with the improvement and maintenance of our school grounds. Last week a team worked to relieve some of the drainage issues around the outdoor classroom area which was followed up by adding a pathway to the green tool shed. Paths were also laid around the bike shelter in another very damp area of the grounds. The willow tunnel was trimmed and excess willow weaved around the sensory pathway. The pond area was cleared out of all the sticks and piles of willow that had accumulated. This was all taken, along with the excess turf generated from the pathways to make a hibernaculum in the wild tree area. The posts were put back in the ground to protect the area. All the picnic tables and benches were sanded and repainted. The children worked hard on putting more bark around the play structures and picking up the stones from the outdoor classroom. Finally, one of the biggest jobs of the day was to repaint the panels around the school. This was done all the way round the school, with care and attention. We are now looking to borrow a scaffolding tower to reach the top panels. Thankfully the weather was kind to us and we managed to achieve all the jobs as planned. Welly days are always a great community day and the turn out was fantastic. Thank you all.
Welly Day 28th October 2018
Strathblane Primary School has benefited immensely over the last few years from the hard work of our willing parent volunteers. They have worked tirelessly to improve our school grounds. In the last few years we have seen our school playground go from a large area of tarmac and grass to a purpose designed space for learning and playing. All the work has been completed by volunteers. There are three purpose-built seating areas where classes can learn outdoors. We also have 2 picnic tables where children can work or socialise over lunch in the summer. One of the bench areas is designed to fit under our giant gazebo which provides a sheltered learning space. See the photos at the bottom of this page of welly days through the years.
September 2017 - We received £2600 from a 'Food For Thought' funding application which has allowed us to purchase the materials needed to build a firepit area that will be used for cooking. We also bought a shed to store garden equipment and the firepit. A team of over 100 volunteers worked hard to build the seating area which was designed by the P5 and P6 classes. We also moved 4 bulk bags of bark, trimmed the willow tunnel, created a willow pathway, built 3 sets of companion benches and many other tasks around the grounds. Here are some photos.
Timeline
2011 - Willow dome built (tunnels added to willow dome in 2016)
2012 - Orchard Planted - various fruit trees
2012- 2013 - Tyre structures built
2013 - Woodland area planted and surrounding hedges planted
2014 - Pond installed
2014 - Bottle greenhouse built
2014 - Tunnels and Mounds built
2014 - Wildlife Garden installed
2015 - Herb and Vegetable garden
2016 - Quiet garden installed
2017 - Quiet garden chairs Fire Pit area installed, New shed, More raised beds, new hedging planted
2018 - New Hedging planted along perimeter fence
2018 - Gaga ball court built
2018 - Sensory Pathway completed
2018 - Pathways around the grounds built
2019 - School Repainted
2019 - More pathways added
2019 - First Daily Mile Path trial laid
2019 - Painting of wooden structures
2019 - Pond area extended
Grounds Group
Rachel Allen
Andy Edwards
Tom Furniss
Katie Goodier
Marian Hoyle
Alison Hunter
Tom Ingham
Jay McLean
Alastair Pickard
Lucy Telling
Michael Walne
