St Austin's Veg Patch
St Austin’s RC Primary School in Grassendale, Liverpool, have been planning to make the most of their school grounds, to help children and local people learn more about and care for the environment. Teacher, Mrs Campbell and local artist Jannette Porter who’s children attend St Austin’s School, got together to plan what they could do with the grounds. They approached Faiths4Change to ask for advice on partnership working and funding to make thier plans a reality.
They have achieved a great deal with an army of commited and generous parents and grandparent volunteers. They cleared the sites to be developed of brambles and prepared the ground for development. They created a quiet area in the shade for children to go in during play time. Volunteeers helped to fill the area with plants donated by local people. They also created a vegetable growing area to share with the adjoining nursery. They had a pond in the school grounds which was unused and with the help of a parent who is a local craftsman, they made the access to the pond bette rand safer, allowing it to be used for learning about pond life as part of the curriculum. They have incorporated a solar powered pond pump as an example of renewable energy, and to keep the pond healthy.
They have plans to open up the school grounds for celebration days, allowing others local to the school to appreciate and benefit from this newly created area. St Austin’s Church holda a monthly group called “Eat, Greet, Play” which attracts people after mass and invites other local people to get involved in an informal fun session for families to play ad meet together. The school grounds will offer this group a richer and more welcoming place to explore and use.
