Tuesday 25th April 2023
Report written by Doug Pearman (he/him)
Brightly coloured play equipment A pond to dip into Spring flowers A handmade pizza oven Teeming raised allotment beds
These sights faced the intrepid few after a breathless stride/ride up a freshly asphalted hill to Carlton Hill Primary school.
After some brief checks for frogspawn and newtspotting, hands were gloved and the team divided like a shamrock to tackle three tasks in one. The strong hands of Alpha team cleared the pizza oven surrounds in preparation for upcoming proud cooks at the summer fete. The green fingers of Bravo team weeded the allotment beds - soon to be planted out as an educational project with the littlun’s. And with secateurs, graspers, bold feet and the thoughtful (if damp) hands of Charlie team, brown stems and green mats of pond overgrowth were plucked, snipped, and lifted so the 4-11 year olds could get excited about the prettier parts of nature and have a chance at spotting the fortunate few tadpoles still on their way to frogdom.
Of course - once the lucky trefoil had reunited we all wound down in GoodGym style using every inch of the kids’ playpark for dips, push-ups, balances and mushroom-hopping japes. Smiles on dials all round, with an iridescent cloud formation to keep us marvelling at the beauty of nature on the way home too.
The children and Carlton Hill learn outside as much as possible. We have a 'Forest School' area, a pond, and a field and are trying to encourage more wildlife into our grounds and increase biodiversity. At the moment this starts with pond maintenance!
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Give the organisation more time to plan activities for vulnerable members of the community