The Mindfulness Garden’s journey started in 2021 when past pupil, Bethany Brown, shared her vision to develop a safe, quiet space for pupils and staff. We have made so much progress converting a bare, concrete space in our school to a tranquil garden area. The projected started with ‘The Big Dig’ which involved tidying the garden followed by planting and weeding. Thanks to the work of our PTFA and students in school we made a great start to clearing the garden space in October 2021.
On 8th October 2021, we had a wonderful ‘World Mental Health Day’ fundraiser. The Sixth Form students had a bun sale and students accessorised their uniforms with yellow. Some of the money raised was used towards the Mindfulness Garden project.
A team of dedicated students worked tirelessly throughout the winter months to continue to clear and tidy the space in preparation for the brighter and warmer weather in Spring. Despite the cold and rainy days, we always felt energised and happier after each gardening session thanks to the fresh air and seeing the birds return to the space was encouraging.
Year 10 students along with Mrs Scott went on a trip to Woodlawn Garden Centre on the 9th June 2022 to get a wide selection of flowers and plants. On 10th June 2022 we got compost and bark to put on the beds and planted all the flowers. We also started to clean up other areas of the garden. Our initial aim was to clear three beds but we actually managed to clear all of the beds, achieving much more than our original goal.
Some other activities and tasks that were completed were:
– Painting the shed
– Putting other accessories in the garden such as mirrors
– Fixing bird feeders and bird boxes.
The first event held in the Mindfulness Garden was the Year 8 Freshers BBQ 2022. On prize day in October 2022 we opened the Mindfulness Garden, inviting special guests to plant a tree to mark the event.
We look forward to seeing the space grow and develop, our next project is to paint a mural designed by our students in school and create more natural seating and sheltered areas. We look forward to sharing more of the project with you.
Erin Brown and Mrs Scott
