The Pond Project 2007

An Outside Classroom and Nature area.

 

The History,

During the 1970s and early 1980s the staff, parents and pupils at St. Jude’s Catholic School and people from the parish, spent hours collecting old newspapers and taking them for recycling, to raise funds for our own swimming pool.

The pool was initially an outdoor pool, and then it was covered, just on the corner of the school field.

Children loved the swimming lessons in school and parents were able to use the pool at the week ends with their family. The caretaker was responsible for keeping the water quality up to scratch and keeping the pool area clean and safe.

Vandals would often break in, leaving debris in the pond or fouling the water, which meant the pool had to be closed down until repairs were done and the water quality returned to safety regulations. The school was responsible for repair and maintenance of the pool and for the expensive chemicals necessary for the water quality.

 

The Disaster.

Then in? disaster struck. High winds lifted the roof of the pool and smashed it to pieces further down the field. The pool itself was damaged beyond repair. It was decided that the cost of repair or rebuild was too expensive, as maintenance costs were escalating and a new swimming pool was available for pupils, at Fareham Leisure Centre.

 

Second Stage of its life.

The Governors, staff and parents of the school decided to use the insurance money to create an environmental area, incorporating a large pond, wild life area and bushes and trees to attract wildlife. Staff and pupils at the school enjoyed using the pond and surrounding areas for science lessons, catching and studying mini- beasts and pond dipping to study the creatures that had made their home within our school grounds.

Maintenance of the pond created a further problem for the staff and governors at the school. Ponds left to their own natural devices will gradually fill with pond weed, grasses, bushes and debris and will eventually dry up! We had to use voluntary labour and advice from the Stubbington Study Centre to try and hold back the forces of nature. Our Grounds maintenance team could not take on the maintenance under their service level agreement and private contractors quoted exorbitant fees for the upkeep of our very large pond!

When the Paul Townsend suite was built the drainage of the KS2 playground was improved. A natural spring, which drained water from several gardens along the A27, drained into the banks of our playground, causing a sea of mud after heavy rain! The spring was drained into clay pipes, which then drain into our pond, keeping it supplied with a constant source of natural run off water. Our pond will not now naturally dry up, unless Global Warming has a disastrous effect on our climate!

 

The Dawning of the Project.

Our PFA adopted the pond as a project last academic year. Andy Smith was successful in his application for funding from a charitable trust on the IOW, Sharon Parsons ran a marathon and sponsors dedicated their money to our pond project, our parish donated the proceeds of the Christmas Fayre to the project and our governors have pledged the support of our building fund to develop the pond area as a suitable outdoor learning environment. (?)Nixon organised a team of IBM volunteers to work with members of our PFA to clear the overgrown shrubs and small trees and clear litter from the area. Parents and children came over two week ends to pond dip, as part of our “Foster a Newt” project, to protect our newts during the maintenance phase of our project.

 

So, what do we want in the future?

 

A safe outdoor environment for children to learn about plants and animals in our school grounds.

 

· A shady, waterproof outdoor classroom, so that children can study outside.

 

· Opportunities for growing and studying a wide variety of plant life.

 

· A pond area that is well stocked and safe to use.

 

We are working in partnership with Hampshire County Council’s Property and Maintenance division, using their expertise, advice and workforce to start off this exciting new project. We will be applying for grant aid from the DFES, as this is a project to improve the learning environment for our pupils. Under this scheme we would pay 10% of the costs and the DFES would pay the remaining 90%, so our money would go further!

 

It can be very frustrating when we know what we want to do, but we can’t get going! We have to be sensible with this project because our children’s health and safety must come first. We need expert advice and support, to protect wildlife and to create a learning environment that can be maintained and developed in the future.

 

So, watch this space, things have now started and will continue to develop, thank you in advance for your support and your patience!

 

Christine Mc Grew

Headteacher

Becoming a reality

Following the council surveyor’s visit over the summer holiday, plans have now been drawn up and are soon to be implemented.

 ( Photograph looking South with the school behind you )

Currently The cost of Annual Maintenance is delaying the project.

 

 

St. Jude’s Catholic School Pond Project

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