BSCS Outdoor Classroom Wins Wessex Water Award

We are pleased to be invited along to Bradley Stoke Community School on Friday 13th July to take part in an award ceremony in recognition of their Courtyard Classroom project.

Paul Graham from Wessex Water presented the school with a cheque for £400 from ‘Wessex Watermark’ in recognition of the school’s commitment to increasing its outdoor learning opportunities by turning an underused inner courtyard into an outdoor classroom.  

Plans for the garden include an allotment area plus plantings of native trees and shrubs.   A wildlife and marsh area will encourage the introduction of wild life to the area. The Courtyard Classroom Gardenwill eventually be partly irrigated by a water recycling project from the science department s grey water research project. The pond will have an underwater camera to film the comings and goings of its pond life. The whole project, led by the three science technicians, will be overseen by pupils from the science department who will be monitoring the garden s weather station, and keeping records from the pond and bird box web cameras.

“The Courtyard Classroom offers so many opportunities to link science with wildlife ” said Peter Stafford the school s Science Technician. “Nothing we teach about ecology and science could possibly be as riveting as watching the transformation that this courtyard garden will make to our immediate environment. Our pupils will witness the colonisation by plants, trees, birds and insects and their observations will be used by the science department to link straight back into their curriculum. We are delighted with the support that Wessex Water has given us through this Award.

The Watermark Award provides funds for environmental projects within the Wessex Water area.   Now in its nineteenth year, it has supported over 800 environmental initiatives. Organised by The Conservation Foundation, all projects are judged by a panel chaired by its President – David Bellamy.

Year 8 Pupil, Chris Tasker, told us: “I really enjoy going to the Courtyard Club every Wednesday. I’ve learnt how to grow potatoes and vegetables and am growing them at home now. I enjoy digging – I helped to dig out the pond and the allotment. Mr Stanford showed us how to sow grass seed. He even taught us the meaning of the word ‘weed’ – it’s not the plant that makes it a weed, its whether the plant is wanted in a particular place. So one plant in a garden could be described as a weed, but the same plant at the edge of the pond is not a weed.”

Posted in News