Early in 2016 a group from the Rotary Club visited SunburyManor School to meet the Head Teacher, Louise Duncan, and have a guided tour of
the school. This came about through the school entering a team in our Youth
Speaks competition the previous November.
It was the first time a team from Sunbury Manor had entered
Youth Speaks, and to everyone’s surprise (except perhaps their own) they won
the opening round for Spelthorne schools. They progressed to the second round,
and got through that as well, so they reached the District Final, where they
were narrowly pipped into second place. Had they won that round they would have
been just 2 rounds away from being National champions.
The winning Youth Speaks team with teacher
Buoyed up by those achievements, the school then entered our
Young Photographer competition and amazingly Sunbury Manor pupils won 1st,
2nd and 3rd prizes in the Intermediate category. This is
clearly a school that instils a competitive spirit amongst its pupils, and
encourages them to be the best they can be at whatever they undertake. What a
great philosophy for turning out youngsters who are prepared for the challenges
and disappointments that await them after they leave school.
During our tour of the school I was struck by the excellent
behaviour of the children. As they moved between classes after each period,
there was no shouting, screaming or raised voices that one might expect from
large numbers of teenagers. Also, the use of mobile phones is banned during
school hours, so they were talking to each other in the playground, rather than
staring at a small screen. We were very
impressed.
Mrs Duncan gave us some ideas for projects we could get
involved in with the school, including book collections for the school library
(yes they still need books), the forming of an Interact Club (Rotary for 12 to
18 year-olds) and creating a garden for the enjoyment of disabled children. We had been surprised to hear that quite a
high proportion of their pupils have Special Needs (I think it is 40%) and this
group include some who cannot participate easily in the rough and tumble of the
school playground and would appreciate
somewhere quiet to escape to. She showed us a small area alongside the school
buildings, which doesn’t get much sunlight, and suggested it would be a good
spot to create a quiet garden for Special Needs pupils.
The neglected garden - Deputy Head Allan Cottle with Jacqueline making her plans
Now I quite like gardening. In fact I used to have an allotment
in Shepperton, where I grew enough vegetables to feed our street. The old
timers would smile at me, as I would get a trailer load of manure dumped on the
plot each winter. I grew pumpkins, courgettes and beans directly into the
manure and the results were phenomenal. I couldn’t pick them fast enough. The
following year I would grow potatoes where the beans had been, with equally
amazing results. The only problem I had was that the PDG only wanted veg
brought into the house if it looked like it had come from the supermarket. So
there I would be scrubbing my potatoes and carrots, discarding any with slug
damage or holes of any sort before taking them home, to the further amusement
of the old timers.
An allotment (picture from web)
However, at the school we were not being asked to create a
vegetable plot, and Ken and I both thought this would be suitable for a joint
project with Shepperton & Sunbury Rotary, our Mother club. Their incoming President,
Geoff Williams and I had already been talking about a joint project during our
Presidential year, and here was an ideal opportunity. Shepperton & Sunbury
have a garden designer amongst their membership, and between us we could find
sufficient labour, so we decided to go ahead. Each club donated £250 towards
the cost, and District matched these donations with a further £500. In addition
Jacqueline Stanton, our designer, persuaded Notcutts Garden Centre to sponsor
the project with another £500. They also offered a 50% reduction on any
supplies purchased from them. On top of that, Tesco in Sunbury offered to
donate a circular table with integral seats which we accepted with gratitude.
The plot doesn't get much sunlight
So we were off to a good start, and in early July we had our
first joint meeting to plan our campaign. Jacqueline had designed a garden,
which included a special plastic matting to go over the grass, making it
accessible to wheelchairs all year round, and there would also be shade loving
plants for the shady areas. The design included a wrought iron gazebo over a
stone circle. Little did we know that the decision to include a stone circle
was to haunt us for the rest of the summer.
A stone circle similar to ours (picture from web)
The design was agreed at our meeting, where it was suggested
that 2 days would be sufficient to complete the garden transformation. My main
objective was to get the work completed during the summer holidays, so that the
garden would be ready for the new term in September. Two work days were agreed,
18th and 19th August, when we expected to complete the
work, and if we failed to do so, we would still have a couple of weeks before
the school re-opens.
Scruffy entrance to the garden
Along came day one, and six of us convened at the school,
where the extent of our task dawned on us. The site was surrounded by school
buildings on two sides, a large container on another side, and a 12 feet high
hedge on the other. Even in midsummer, therefore, there was very little
sunlight in the garden, and none at all in some areas. As we laid out the
plastic matting, we realised there was a significant ridge in the middle of the
lawn, with parallel ruts on either side. This had not been apparent before the
matting was laid down. Obviously the area had at some time been a vehicular
route, and we felt we had to level it
before we went any further.
The matting gets laid
There was a small
pond in the middle of a grassy area, to the side of our proposed path. It was
completely clogged with algae, which apparently is what happens when a pond is
in shade. It was also filled with rubbish such as pens, cans, food wrappers and
such like, probably thrown from nearby classroom windows. There was an old
water pump in the pond, obviously used originally to provide a fountain, but
this was disconnected, and in fact the electric cable for it had been cut
through.
The pond is choked with algae and rubbish
The ground contained lots of stones and just below the
surface there was hardcore, which needed to be dealt with before we could
create flower borders and dig a hole for the stone circle. The rest of the area
contained quite a bit of litter which needed to be cleared before we could
start.
Picture from web
Our first day, therefore was spent discussing the various
issues that needed to be dealt with, doing some rubbish clearance in the pond
and elsewhere, whilst David Courtney commenced digging a hole for the stone
circle. It was very heavy going and we
felt some water to soften the rock hard ground, as well as dealing with
the pond algae, would be a good
idea. The nearest outside tap was about
20 feet away attached to a building. It had no handle and no hose connector for
the hose we had brought. I went off to a
nearby hardware store to buy a suitable connector. I came back an hour later,
and with a pair of pliers we got the tap open and started watering the plot.
On day two we reached the momentous decision that we needed
to level the ground before laying the matting, so two tons of sand were ordered
for delivery in a couple of days. We were also awaiting the delivery of the
stone circle and gazebo, so not much was achieved on day two either.
Gazebo - slightly more ornate than ours
Next week we were back, and spent a whole day (well about 3
hours, less tea breaks and banter) wheelbarrowing in the sand and levelling the
area where the wheelchair-friendly matting was to go. Content with that, we
then started on the stone circle. Firstly we dug about 3 inches down in an area
approximately the size of the circle. We then realised we hadn’t dug out
enough, so dug out some more. This was particularly hard work, with lots of
stones and hardcore to get out.
Work starts on the stone circle
Next we put down a layer of sand as a bed for the circle,
before realising we had dug out too much soil. So the sand was scraped up, soil
put back in, and the sand re-laid. Now, for the first time, we tried putting
the stone circle in place, only to find that the slabs were of variable
thickness, so some needed more sand beneath them than others. Our technical
experts (Andrew and Ken) then decided we needed to cement them in to do the job
properly. To cut a very long story short, we spent about 15 days on the stone
circle alone, cursing it the whole time, but by the time it was finished to Ken
and Andrew’s exacting standards, we were really quite proud of it.
The finished stone circle with gazebo and table
By now, the school was back for the Autumn term, so we had
curious children observing our progress, and adding some background noise to
our efforts. Other jobs completed were assembling the gazebo, painting the
wooden fences, planting the borders, getting a tap installed in the garden and
creating a rockery around the pond. About mid-October, the garden was just
about finished, but we didn’t want an opening ceremony as winter approached, so
we decided to hold it in the spring, by which time the plants would be showing
a bit more life and the grass would have started growing through the matting.
Garden looking good in April
So, a date of 18th April was fixed for the
opening ceremony. The mayor confirmed his availability, and our sponsors were
also invited. The date was actually the first day back at school after the
Easter holidays, so we had an opportunity to go in during the school holidays
and make sure everything was ship-shape. I was pleasantly surprised by how well
the garden had weathered the winter, Many of the shrubs were in flower, the
pond plants were growing strongly, and the grass was indeed starting to grow
through the plastic mesh.
Head teacher Mrs Duncan (right) with mayor Alfred Friday and mayoress
We spent this time, weeding, replacing the occasional plant
which hadn’t survived, installing an automatic watering system, and laying a
mulch of shredded bark around the borders. The bird table was filled with food,
and a hanging basket was put up to adorn a blank wall
I introduce the garden
We were happy with it, although there had been some negative
comments from one of our members, who didn’t think the garden was colourful
enough for young people, and looked more like a retirement home garden!. This
caused us to stop and think about whether we had done the right thing, but we
were encouraged by all the comments from school staff, who unanimously thought
it was lovely. Of course they may have been trying not to hurt our feelings,
but I’m pretty sure the comments were genuine.
Geoff thanks our sponsors
The opening ceremony was an unqualified success. Several
members from the two Rotary clubs came along, as did many teachers and several
pupils, including Interact Club president Farrah and our RYLA student Louisa.
It really felt like a family, particularly when, in welcoming visitors, Head
Teacher Louise Duncan had a joke at my expense. I was delighted, you always
know you have been accepted when people are rude about you. She spoke very
warmly about the school’s relationship with Rotary, then Geoff and I spoke
briefly about the project and how it came about, not forgetting to acknowledge
the contribution from our sponsors, Notcutts Garden centre in Staines and Tesco
supermarket in Sunbury. The Mayor, councillor Alfred Friday, then spoke about
the esteem in which he holds both Rotary and Sunbury Manor School, before
cutting the tape we had tied across the gate with a pair of garden shears.
The mayor cuts the tape
As everybody wandered about the garden, admiring the
different elements of it, I felt proud of our achievement, and started thinking
I should devote a similar amount of time this year on my own garden. However I
doubt if I could persuade the team to
come round and help me with it.
A young scientist discusses the benefits of solar power
