If there is anyone happy to water the garden and especially playground planters and pollination projects, trees etc., then could you please confirm by text to Susan Taylor on 07882 942 945 that you have done so, including what areas were done. If the plants and garden etc. aren’t watered regularly then there’s every chance that the forecast long, hot spell will start the process of desertification on Fortrose Street this summer.

On Sundays the school gate will be open from 11am – 1pm, but Janny John will be in the school on most days over the summer, and the Afty will be open, so access to the school grounds shouldn’t be a problem. Anyone is welcome to text Susan for info about what needs to be done, etc.

We will be holding the school garden market sale this Friday 8 September in the school playground at pick up time to raise some funds for the school.

We’ll be selling produce from the garden and any baking donations (no nuts please!).

We are harvesting just now (mainly potatoes, apples and kale).

Any donations of baked goods or produce from allotments (for those who have one) would be much appreciated at the time of the sale.

Thank you!

At Hyndland Primary we are keen to promote outdoor learning. The school garden and parts of the playgrounds are currently maintained by green fingered parents Susan Taylor and Helen Rolph, but they need your help. Would you be able to volunteer some of your time? They are always looking for volunteers to help out not just in the school garden, but with the plants dotted around the playgrounds too. You could water the gardens and pots, help with planting, digging and preparing plants and seeds for classes.

Susan and Helen will be looking for parent volunteers to help them with the gardening projects, so whether or not you are good with a trowel or can tell the difference between a plant and a weed, all-comers are welcome. If you are interested, please contact Susan Taylor on 07882 942945 or Helen Rolph at hjrolph@gmail.com.

As the holidays approach, we usually put together a watering rota for the school garden. If you are free to take your children down to the garden on a particular day or week over the summer to water the plants, please let us know as this will be a great help. The same also applies if you’re able to come along and help out with playground improvements or gardening during the holidays.

Please email or phone either Helen Rolph (hjrolph@gmail.com / 07811 384083) or Susan Taylor (matboffice@yahoo.co.uk / 07882 942945) if you are able to help out with the garden and playground work over the summer and beyond.

Very best wishes

Helen and Susan

A very special thanks to the few volunteers who gave their time to help improve the playgrounds and garden area during the Spring Break.

In terms of the work that as undertaken, Susan Taylor and Helen Rolph, along with a small number of volunteer helpers, managed to undertake the following:

• paint both dens
• cleaned up the toadstool area which was also painted
• the playground mural was refreshed with a new background colour
• wooden fences were painted
• a new garden path was installed (still to be finished)
• a new planter wall was built along the length of the wall at The Afty
• filled the new planter with 8 wheelbarrows of soil collected from the front of the school once all the weeds were sieved out
• a sandpit was placed in the P1 playground; this was found in the garden last year all rusted and ready for the skip, but was refurbished and had a lid made for it, so will hopefully squeeze another couple of years out of it; therefore, a great example of recycling

One of the most popular “amendments” in the playground was the addition of a steering wheel on the “Pennies for Playgrounds” boat. Unfortunately, this was broken within the first week due to a child fleeing a wasp, and hopefully a replacement (steering wheel not child!) will be obtained asap.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of jobs that the volunteers didn’t manage to start or complete due to running out of time and also too few volunteers. However, the volunteers who came along could not have been more inspired and motivated and returned more than once throughout the holidays to climb the mountain of jobs/tasks.

It is hoped that the next request for the Summer Break Clean Up will bring in more volunteers, as there is a lot of work that needs to be undertaken to improve and maintain the garden and the school playgrounds, to ensure that they are maximised as attractive, enjoyable, educational and fun learning and play areas for all of our kids at the school.

Work that wasn’t able to be done on this occasion, but is planned for the Summer Break, includes creating another boat and painting the seaside mural; but really, there is a lot of work still to do, and then there’s the ongoing maintenance beyond that.

We cannot stress enough the importance for volunteers to come on board to help with these ongoing improvements. Therefore, we’d like to start collecting contact numbers of parents and carers (and children) potentially willing to give some of their time and energy for future Clean Up events, initially over the summer. Even if you can only spare a day or a few hours, it all helps spread the workload.

Please text Susan Taylor on 07882 942 945 and ask to be added to the HPS Clean Ups mailing list.

The Head Teacher, Ms Helen Brown, says: “Everyone is amazed and appreciates the wonderful work that has been done all over the school campus by Susan and Helen and the parent/pupil helpers. [The children] are very excited about getting involved, they are also bouncing with enthusiasm about their nature topic and would love to take on some duties and activities in the school garden this term.”

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO HELP OUT WITH THE SCHOOL PLAYGROUND AND GARDEN IMPROVEMENTS DURING THE EASTER BREAK

School break is upon us – 3 potential weekends to carry out much needed tasks in order to improve playground areas.

However, on weekdays except for 13 & 14 April, work improving the playground and garden will still be ongoing (weather permitting); therefore, help during the week would gladly be welcomed too.

There is a list of tasks to be carried out – which range from general cleaning to painting…

If there is anyone out there happy to spare a few hours during the hols, please text 07882 942945 with the date(s) you’re available and the approximate time you can come along.

Please note the following:

If you bring along your children then it’s likely they’ll be painting too, so please ensure suitable clothing is worn.

We would like to see a big difference this year in all the playground areas and have some cracking projects for the kids to get involved in.

If your kids come along to help during the hols then they will become the ‘trailblazers’ and inspire their friends and classmates once school resumes with these projects.

Please also bring along spare paint, paint brushes, etc.

The Afty building will also be available for shelter/toilet/hot drinks while the holiday club children are away on outings – currently planned for the 5th, 7th, 11th and 13th. Any time between 10ish and 5ish.

Please come along and help out at some point during the holidays, even if it’s just for a couple of hours on a single day. The kids will probably love it too!

You may have noticed a few changes around the school grounds, thanks in large part to a huge effort from Susan Taylor (Parent Council Additional Member), who has been in working away after school and at weekends to improve the outdoor environment around the school.

Helen and Susan have also been discussing some of the plans for the school garden and playgrounds. One of these is to get the garden ‘ready for winter’. This involves getting the raised beds fixed and planting some winter crops (kale and brassicas). We are also looking to do a general tidy and clean up around the grounds before the bad weather hits.

If you would like to help out, we have the following jobs that need to be done:

• wash the bike shelter
• general weeding and tidying around the garden and playgrounds
• painting / decorating wheelie bin planters
• painting the toadstoools
• fixing noticeboards in the garden
• painting and decorating the garden gate

If anyone is free at anytime and would like to help out, please contact Helen at hjrolph@gmail.com.

At Hyndland Primary we are keen to promote outdoor learning. The school garden is currently maintained by green fingered parent Helen Rolph, but she needs help. Would you be able to volunteer some of your time? She is always looking for volunteers to help out not just in the school garden, but with the plants dotted around the playgrounds too. You could water the gardens and pots, help with planting, digging and preparing plants and seeds for classes.

Helen will be looking for parent volunteers to help her with the gardening projects, so whether or not you are good with a trowel or can tell the difference between a plant and a week, all-comers are welcome. If you are interested please email Helen Rolph at hjrolph@gmail.com.

As the holidays approach we usually put together a watering rota for the school garden. If you are free to take your children down to the garden on a particular week over the summer to water the plants, please contact Helen at hjrolph@gmail.com as this will be a great help.

There are plenty of activities for the children to enjoy in the garden over the holidays, including picking the plums (usually ripe in July), picking herbs (rosemary, sage, chives), sweet peas (should be flowering at the end of July), digging large holes (always popular!) as well as looking for bugs and bees around the ‘bug hotel’ (there are magnifying glasses in the garden storage box) and feeding the birds (we have various bird feeders around the garden).

Thank you also to everyone who has donated plants, tidied up the garden, planted up and watered the many pots, fed the birds and looked after the bug hotel.

Garden Activity 2015-16

We have so far done the following in the school garden:

• set up the compost bins, with small recycling buckets for the children to take into the canteen for apple cores (we ideally need teacher help with this)
• tidied up the wildlife area and set up two wildlife ponds to attract birds, insects and amphibians to the garden and increase biodiversity
• set up a “bird and bee” feeding zone to cover up the derelict area in the bit of playground behind the Afty
• planted up hanging baskets and tubs to make the area more welcoming (to humans as well as wildlife!)
• planted onions and cabbages in the veg plot
• set up a “mud pie” zone and we will set up a “digging only” zone for children who just want to have a good dig and find some worms etc.

Other plans include:

• growing some vegetables from seed
• setting up another herb garden and encourage children and parents to pick the herbs on their way to/from school
• continue improving the habitat in the wildlife garden (planting more woodland plants)
• continue re-planting the many pots around the school playground
• try and get the raised beds in the garden fixed as they are completely rotten
• restart the wormery – we need to find a parent volunteer to take this on

Special thanks from the Parent Council: A particular thank you is due to Helen, who has been working committedly and tirelessly on the various floral and other gardening aspects around the school. Without her fantastic contribution, the garden, pots, etc., would, quite frankly, go to… erm… pot!

Would you like to help out with the school garden but don’t have much time? You could adopt a plant pot. If anyone is interested in adopting a pot, please drop an email to Helen at hjrolph@gmail.com or find her in the playground and she’ll organise a pot for you. All you have to do is plant it up, decorate it if you wish, and put it somewhere around the school. You may want to plant some veggies or salad or flowers or do something more creative – it’s up to you. Your child can then enjoy watering the pot and picking the veggies/flowers when they are ready. You only have to focus on your pot, so if you are short on time, this can be a great way to still connect with nature. Many thanks to those people who have already adopted a pot.

Thank you!

A big thank you to Daria and Eileen who have fixed the cold frame and also thanks to Morna, Carole and other parents who helped out with general watering duties and other activities around the garden.

Also, an even bigger thank you to all the children who have helped to dig the soil, do some planting and watering over the past few weeks – the school garden is there to be used and played in and it’s lovely to see so many children using it.

If anyone would like to take their children up to the garden after school, it is always open and there are always plants that need watering.

FINALLY – if anyone knows someone with a garden or allotment please let them know that if they have any spare plants and don’t know what to do with them, we’ll happily take them off their hands!