Phase One: 250m walk on school grounds around a wildflower meadow. This will be a discovery trail with butterfly banks, habitat piles and other points of interest to encourage use, movement and interest.
Phase two: A new outdoor classroom/bird-hide/community hub building will be provided with additional outdoor benches which will act as a meeting place and learning centre as well as a bird hide and classroom. The roof runoff will be captured in an attenuation pond which will be planted up as a wildlife pond. An area of secondary woodland will become a bird feeding station, habitat boxes for birds and bats will be installed on trees and a community orchard created. The woodland will be cleared of fly tipped rubbish and debris to allow safe access for pupils and community. The space will be accessed via a gate for security and opened regularly for community use.
The project will become user lead via a steering group of community members, parents and school staff.
What we'll deliver:
- Install wild flower meadow with a 250m walk around it
- Custom-built outdoor Classroom/bird hide
- New seating area with fruit tree planting
- Restoration of woodland area to access bird feeding stations, attenuation pond and community orchard
Why it's a great idea:
Learning for the students parents and local community, health and wellbeing benefits, sustainability, biodiversity and much more.
By improving outdoor habitat within school grounds, for the whole community, the project will encourage restoration of historic green spaces across Pelsall Common Conservation Area. Once biodiverse heathland and grassland, we hope this project will help to find new ways to increase community activity across parks throughout the area.
Steps to get it done:
- Site clearance and groundworks including base for outdoor classroom. Removal of litter and fly tipped items
- Nectar Room outdoor classroom construction
- Minor artefacts tables, bird feeding stations, bug boxes, nest boxes and bat roost boxes
- Attenuation pond creation, fencing, gates and paths
- Soft landscaping: seeding and planting in woodland around pond
- Learning resources
The project will be delivered in two distinct phases each one providing deliverable outcomes not dependant on the proceeding phases. The project aims to make links between the school and the local community within an outdoor environment and shared experiences. The nectar Room will become a hub for exchange between the school and the community and create opportunity for regular interaction and special events. The project will become coordinated by a steering group comprising of school governors, teachers, parents and community members. The steering group will formulate the future of the project with space to expand restoring more of the woodland and creating further opportunities e.g. forest schools areas.
