The Room To Grow

It's Been A While....

2009-11-20T13:37:00.000-08:00

The first day of winter?

Recycling the rain water!

Sitting in the story circle

Getting the chance to climb the tree now all the leaves have gone

The nursery love the labyrinth

I've not posted anything on the BLOG for quite a while. However, the time that's gone by has given everything in the garden a chance to settle...and grow! The children have been having a great time using the space. The P5s use it most days for their daily fitness and have also been out there with their rain gauges to measure how much rainfall we have had. Lots and lots is the answer to that one. Here are some of our most recent pictures.

More Beechgrove Magic

2009-09-21T00:27:00.000-07:00

Here is another video of some of the work that went on to complete Room to Grow - or NEARLY complete it ....

They came, They Sowed, They Planted.

2009-09-09T16:02:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks have been pretty hectic. There was a lot of work to do in preparation for the Beechgrove team's arrival at the end of August. Filming was from Aug 31st until September 3rd.

It was fun!

It was exciting!

It was exhausting!

Look at our first video montage to see how things went before, during and after filming.

Ross Contractors

2009-08-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

Ross Contractors, who are based in East Calder, were on site today installing the play equipment supplied for us by Jupiter Play. The equipment looks stunning already so I can't wait until it is fully installed.

The boys from Ross Contractors worked really hard in horrible weather conditions. They'll be back again tomorrow to finish the job.

Bring on The Rifles!

2009-08-26T13:07:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Ted Coxon for ensuring we had a good number of soldiers from 3Rifles working on the site today. Their presence ensured a huge amount of work was completed.

The boys take a well deserved rest and try out the new benches which have been built by A4e.

Fun In the Sun

2009-08-26T12:56:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful day so some of the pupils went outside to have a run round the maze and a dance on the stage!

Keep The Garden Tidy

2009-08-26T12:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Edinburgh City Council who have donated a bin for our garden. That'll help us to keep the garden tidy!

Magic Monday!

2009-08-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

A lot happened on the site today. Ronnie and Derek from SCOTBARK came along and built the maze for us using FILTREXX sock. The sock has been stuffed with compost and grass seed so very soon we will have a lovely grassy maze.

The end product!

Jordan and Thomas try out the maze.

It's All Goin' On!

2009-08-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

There are so many things that have been happening over the past few days that I'm not actually sure where to begin. I think I'll post some photos and videos to let you see for yourself!

Friday 21st August

The P5 and 6s have another go at perfecting their Hooping routine!

Saturday 22nd August

The beautiful view when you lie on the deck!

Sunday 23rd August

Thanks to the staff at Williamson's Garden Centre, Uphall. They were tremendously helpful when we produced our list of goods that we needed to buy!

Thanks guys!

The weather was AWFUL today! Still. Come rain or more rain....you can always have something to eat and another BONFIRE!

Thanks to David Bewsey and Peter Gray for coming along and getting stuck into the task of clearing the weeds.

The Room to Grow P5 Appeal

2009-08-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

P5 worked very hard on a challenge activity today. They had to come up with a 20 second appeal to ask for people to come and support the work going on in the community garden. The children had to come up with their own success criteria and then each group developed a presentation.

Here is the appeal that best met the criteria! Well done girls.

BTCV

2009-08-18T13:22:00.000-07:00

The team from BTCV (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) were back with us again today. They did a brilliant job completing the task of laying the pathways! They'll be back with us again on Thursday when they'll be tackling a different task.

A4e

2009-08-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the members of the A4e team.... but where's Alex?
They have been working on the site for a number of days now and we really appreciate the work that they have been doing to support our project. Most of the seating that is going into the garden will have been built, painted and fitted by this fantastic group of people.

The Lone Gardener

2009-08-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

Thanks again to David Bewsey. He came along to the garden on Sunday and was the lone gardener clearing away more of the weeds!

An Army of Helpers

2009-08-16T02:15:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the boys from 3Rifles who came down to help in the garden for a couple of hours on Friday. Their input made sure that another section of the paths were laid!

Give Us Some Power!

2009-08-16T01:52:00.000-07:00

Sinky and Steven got stuck into the school playground! They need to dig out a deep trench so that we can link into the school and get a power and water supply into the garden!

Sinky tries to escape!

A WOW Day!

2009-08-12T14:05:00.000-07:00

There was a lot happening on site today. It was a real WOW day. There was support today from A4e, BTCV, The Beechgrove Garden and, of course, Kev and Sinky were there doing their stuff! Look at these pictures to see just how much things have progressed.

Help from A4e

2009-08-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

Action for Employment (A4e) are another group who are fully supporting our garden development. Find out more about the work they are doing for us as the project progresses.

Here are some of the boys working with Kev to lay the edges for the paths.

A Capital Pond

2009-08-12T11:44:00.001-07:00

Have a quick look at our pond - or rather what WILL be our pond!

Neil Petrie and Neil Sandilands and a team from Capital Skills in Edinburgh are developing the pond area for us, including sourcing pond plants for us and building a grid that will cover the top of the pond. This will enable the children to safely study the pond life.

Thanks to MKM Building Supplies

2009-08-12T11:27:00.000-07:00

MKM Building Supplies, based at Longstone in Edinburgh, has been very supportive of our project, providing a massive amount of materials at a very good price! Here are some pictures of the materials being delivered to the site.

You've Been Framed!

2009-07-26T15:02:00.000-07:00

Kev and Sinky have done a brilliant job this weekend! They have put in all the posts and built the frame for the stage. Work conditions were not great but they carried on regardless.

It looks really fabulous and it is now much easier to see how the garden is taking shape.

The Amphitheatre'sTaking Shape

2009-07-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

If you look closely, you can see that the land has been shaped for our amphitheatre. There will be seating here that will look down onto the staged area.

Hopefully, there'll be less mud though!

It's A maze ing!

2009-07-20T07:41:00.000-07:00

Nikki Morgan had her work cut out for her as she had to draw a plan of the maze so we could get an idea of the amount of matrials needed to put it all together. Here it is drawn out on the floor in the gym hall.....I wonder what it'll be like when it is actually in the garden?

Social Gardening

2009-07-20T07:32:00.000-07:00

We all met again on the 14th for a spot of weeding a bit of a barbeque. We got the kids working by getting them to clean up some of the boulders
we want use on one of the garden areas.

Bring on the Digger

2009-07-20T07:16:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Stuart Mackay and Carillion for once again providing us with a digger to clear the land for us. Peter, the driver, did an excellent job. He made it look so easy!

Round And Round The Gardens

2009-07-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

It was a very exciting day today because I got the chance to go and visit some of the other Beechgrove Community Gardens in and around Edinburgh. My first stop was Silverburn in Midlothian. What a stunning garden, superb cake and a very warm welcome we were given. I really liked the way the garden was laid out and there were some tree benches which I think would work well in our school garden.

The next stop was the mining museum at Newton Grange. Despite being so close to the main road, this garden provided a peaceful haven where you could sit and relax and watch the world go by. I really liked the way that pieces of mining machinery were used to provide features throughout the garden.

The last stop was the 'secret' walled garden in Corstorphine. Very tranquil and off the beaten track it was a very impressive in size and looked amazing with a vast array of beautiful plants and trees.

Campfire's Burning

2009-07-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks again to all the people who came along to get stuck into clearing the garden area on Sunday. We got the bonfire going and spent most of the day chopping things down and burning them up!

Tez and Kev get to the root of the matter!

The boys come in out of the rain to eat their sausages.

Time to put out the fire and go home for the night.

Forks, Spades, Axes and Chippers

2009-07-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

Today we started a bit of the land clearance.......a tiny bit.....very tiny bit. However, it's a start. Thanks to the people who came along to work in the garden today. There may have only been a handful of us but we worked very hard. Have a look at the photos to see the progress we made. We'll be there again on Sunday doing a bit more - with hopefully a bit more manpower. If we get enough people we could have it done and dug in no time.

It looks like it goes on for ever....actually it does.

Getting the digging started.

Shifting trees....

chipping them....

then chopping down some more.

Thank You Hobbycraft

2009-07-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to David Duncan, Manager of Hobbycraft at Fort Kinnaird in Edinburgh for very kindly donating acrylic paint and canvasses for our project. Here is Elaine with the products we were given.

Over the summer we will be inviting pupils to come into school to paint some fabulous pieces of art work which we will hang in the garden from the trees to create an outdoor gallery.

Sensory Garden

2009-07-08T09:04:00.001-07:00

We will be including a sensory zone within our community garden. Today Nikki, Aimee, Callum and Thomas were doing a spot of beachcombing to find some interesting pebbles and shells to be used to make up part of the pathway.

Cheque Presentation

2009-06-27T05:09:00.000-07:00

Here is Leanne Sharpe (DHT) being presented with a cheque for £1500 by Alex Stewart, Chairman of Colinton Amenity Association. The money will be put to good use in the development of the garden.

Hoop Hoop Hooray

2009-06-25T07:17:00.000-07:00

The children have had loads of fun over the past 2 weeks having completed 2, 1 hour sessions of Hoola Hooping! Jill McGregor and Pat Hastings taught the kids the basics and have put together a fabulous routine for the children to master! It is hoped that once the routine is perfected, the pupils will get the chance to show off their new skills on the stage in our new community garden!

Fancy hooping yourself? Keep blogging on for more details that will link you to Jill and Pat's Hoop Hoop Hooray website - coming soon!

Thanks A Million

2009-06-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

As a result of the article in the Eveing News we received a phone call from Mr Lewis Macleod, a retired primary teacher, who donated all of his gardening equipment to the school. Thank you very much! Here he is pictured with some of the equipment he gave us.

I also received a call from Carol Drummond who is a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. She, and some of her colleagues, have offered to come and help us in the garden during the summer break. BRILLIANT.

David Bewsey (CAA) got in touch with information that a local business was willing to come along and spray the weeds for us so we can get on with the clearance Another piece of fantastic news for us! Here is Nigel Rudd from IWA (Invasive Weeds Agency) Scotland in action - looking a bit like a Ghostbuster but actually a Weedbuster! Thanks to him and his son Graham for doing this for us completely free of charge. We really appreciate it!

Edinburgh Evening News

2009-06-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

The Edinburgh Evening News published an article on June 18th about our Room to Grow project. Please follow the link to read what Sue Gyford said about the work we are going to be doing over the summer.

http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/topstories/Army-kids-get-place-to.5378594.jp

Progress

2009-06-15T03:18:00.001-07:00

Hello again,

Progress recently has been a bit slow. There have been many meetings and discussions taking
place in preparation for working on the garden over the summer. I am very pleased to say that another local company has agreed to come on board and work with us in supporting our project.

Jupiter Play have very, very, very kindly agreed to supply and fit loads of fabulous equipment for the play area. I really am SO very grateful. Many thanks go to Jo Walton, Managing Director and Simon Kelly, Area Manager for allowing me to meet with them and agreeing to carry out so much work for us.

Taking Down The Fence

2009-05-07T08:02:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday 5th May, Ian Reid, Gavin and Graeme from Glasgow and Weir were back doing some more work for us. They very kindly agreed to taking out a couple of the concrete posts and pull back the fencing to give access to any machinery we might need to dig up the area in preparation for planting.

Thanks again. We appreciate all the work you are doing to support our project.

Pacing It Out

2009-05-07T07:53:00.000-07:00

On Sunday 1st May, myself, Mrs Morgan, Mrs Campbell and Tim Morton from WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), went into the site for the new garden to go over the plans and see what final adjustments needed to be made.

Here we are measuring out the stage area.

Getting Things Started!

2009-04-30T04:09:00.000-07:00

Things are starting to move along nicely with the garden development. I have been busy making lots of phone calls and trying to get things sorted so we can start working in the area and Mrs Morgan is doing a fantastic job finalising plans!

I took the P5s out today to mark out where we want our 'stage' area to be. Check out the picture of the children singing and dancing on their invisible stage. We look forward to seeing the real thing!

The News Just Gets Better!

2009-03-19T05:08:00.000-07:00

We got the phone call we'd all been waiting for on Monday 16th March. The Beechgrove Garden are coming!

Hurray!

We have been selected for the 1 hour special and filming will be in September.

In the meantime there's lots to be done as we get going with the development of
'The Room to Grow'

Great News!

2009-02-25T12:50:00.000-08:00

The Room to Grow has made it to the short list for being chosen as a feature on the Beechgrove Garden! If our project is chosen then the entire Beechgrove Garden programme will be filmed at our school and everyone will be able to see the progress of the garden emerging.
This is SO exciting. Fingers crossed that we are selected. We are very passionate about this project and really want to get things going so that all the children and families within the community can start to use the garden area.

At The Garden Gate

2009-02-25T12:34:00.000-08:00

The gates are put in place so that we can access the garden from the school playground. Again the boys from Glasgow & Weir did a fabulous job in pretty rotten weather conditions.

Stephen poses with the gate!

Gavin and Graham hard at work!

Long time no post...

2009-02-25T12:10:00.000-08:00

Hello again everyone. It's been a long time since I added a blog entry so I might have a wee bit to do here to update you on the latest garden developments.
Since the last report a lot more work has been done in terms of writing applications and applying for grants. This has taken quite a bit of time but we are sure it will be well worth the effort and we hope that the money will soon start rolling in.

Some good news! Some of you might have noticed that our garden is starting to take shape and that we now have a fence thanks to the hard work of Stephen, Graham and Gavin from Glasgow & Weir. Thanks also must go to Ian Reid for making sure everything happened in the way he promised it would!
Here are some pictures of the fence being built.

TESCO Bag Pack

2008-12-07T01:45:00.000-08:00

Primary 5, 6 and 7 did bag packing at TESCO on Thursday 4th December. Each class worked for 1 hour and raised £522.34. The children were a credit to the school and were very polite to all of the customers.

What's been happening?

2008-12-07T01:37:00.000-08:00

Things have been moving along a bit more slowly with the garden project recently. We have made various grant apllications so we can raise more funds for 'The Room to Grow' and are now playing a waiting game! We should start to hear things by January and can get moving on the garden's development.

Site Clearance

2008-10-07T13:14:00.000-07:00

Another exciting day today. Carillion have done a brilliant job clearing the site so that we can begin the work on our garden project! Have a look at the Current Events page on the school website to see the photographs and look at the area we have to develop. It's HUGE!

Thank you

Good News!

2008-10-02T13:13:00.001-07:00

We've just had confirmation from Glasgow and Weir Blacksmiths that they are going to provide access gates for our garden and they are giving us them free of charge. They have also been very generous in the price they have given us for the boundary fence. Brilliant! Thank you very much. It is greatly appreciated!

Open Day Updates!

2008-10-01T07:35:00.000-07:00

Things are well and truly underway for our Open Day on Friday 10th October when we will be officially launching 'The Room to Grow' community project through our Enterprise activities.

The theme is WW2 and some of the enterprising activities include a play written and performed by P7, a 1940s style tea dance, a market street jumble sale and jewellery, side stalls and an orienteering course. The children have been very creative in their thinking and we are looking forward to bringing all their ideas together in our presentations on the day.

I need to say a huge thank you to 1Scots Unit Welfare Office who have been working closely with the school to assist us on the day. So far Cpt Pearson, Jaclynne Pearson and Sgt Dalgliesh have managed to organise tents for our Market Street, a Fijian band to play at our tea dance and we have Sgt Skinner coming along to be our "drill sergeant". Someone from the welfare office also went up to Edinburgh Castle for us and have given us some WWII kit which we will be displaying.

I really feel it is going to be a brilliant event!

Let the challenge begin!

2008-09-21T14:37:00.000-07:00

We had a short assembly last Thursday (18th September) to talk to the children about the garden development and they will be presented with their first design challenge next week. I would like the children to draw pictures to show their ideas of what they think should be in our garden. These will then be displayed at our open day on October 10th when we will be officially launching 'The Room to Grow' project and having our Enterprise Day celebrations.

The children were a bit unsure of the 'where' our new development was going to be so our super janny and the Carillion boys sectioned off the area with some hazard tape so the pupils can go out and see the land for themselves.

Update!

2008-09-21T14:01:00.000-07:00

Hello again. A quick update on what has been happening in our garden development.

We took part in the TESCO fun day on Saturday 6th September. We ran a tombola and made £210! That's our grand total now sitting at £310. A good start I'm sure you'll agree. Thank you to all the staff and pupils who came along to help out on the day - it was a bit chilly but we did it!

It looks like we WILL be getting the land cleared for us so that we can start planning what we want to put in our garden. The boys from Carillion have been working very hard to get the flood defence built and as soon as that is done they should be moving their machinery onto our section of land. Hurray!

I have had a quote for the boundary fence and the company in question may be able to help us towards the cost by gifting us a set of double gates! I won't mention the company's name yet (just in case) but fingers crossed that will happen.

2008-09-01T04:03:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

The Summer holidays are now over and we are back in school and starting to get to grips with 'The Room to Grow' project once again. We are yet to hear about the costing of the fence and I am still waiting to find out about if someone can help us clear some of the land. While we are waiting we will continue with the findraising. TESCO, Colinton are having a Community fun day on Saturday 6th September from 10-2 and we will be having a stall there. We will be running a tombola and selling homemade tablet and popcorn! Come along and have some fun and find out a btt more about our project. We'd love to see you there. We've designed a banner and we now have a project logo. You can see the sample design below. Look out for our banner outside Tesco on Saturday.

Let The Fundraising Begin!

2008-06-13T04:16:00.000-07:00

I got a lovely surprise this morning in Assembly when Mrs Campbell, Mrs Donaldson and the nursery children presented me with a cheque for £100 to kick start 'The Room To Grow' project fund.
As the next generation of pupils who will be coming through the school, the nursery will really reap the benefits of the outdoor area as they progress through their primary education. Their donation to the fund is greatly appreciated and will be put to good use.
Thanks again!

Parent Volunteers

2008-06-11T02:22:00.000-07:00

Some parents have started to come forward and say that they are interested in getting involved in the grounds development! BRILLIANT! Keep coming forward - we really want your ideas and input.

A special thanks goes to Mrs Morgan who has come forward to say she would like to get involved by using her design skills to help draw up plans for the area. The pupils will be given the chance to come up with ideas of what they want the garden to look like, then these ideas can be used in the final plan.

There are so many of you who are skilled in so many different ways. Come and put those skills to use in our grounds development AND get the opportunity to come and work alongside your child/children

Don't be shy! :)

Progress?

2008-05-26T15:01:00.000-07:00

I have finally spoken to someone about getting a quote for the cost of a fence and gates which will allow access from the school playground and from Redford Place. These will only be used temporarily so that large machinery can gain access to the site during the 'big clearout'!
Fingers crossed the estimate will come through very soon.

Photo Stitch

2008-05-13T02:14:00.000-07:00

I took some individual photographs of staff, parents and pupils holding hands to show how long we need our boundary fence to be. With the magic of technology I have managed to stitch these pictures together to make one long picture.
Click on the picture to take a closer look.

The Size of a Football Pitch!

2008-05-13T02:03:00.000-07:00

I found out today that the piece of land we are going to develop into our outdoor classroom is 0.67 hectares which, apparently, is the size of a small international football pitch!

What a fabulous opportunity we have to develop this land!

Getting some sponsorship!

2008-05-08T02:40:00.000-07:00

Today I will be sending out the Stage 1 proposals for 'The Room to Grow' project to some local companies to see if they can sponsor us or offer any practical help. I was thinking of speaking to some plant hire companies as they might be a able to provide us with the type of machinery we'll need to clear some of the land.

Anyone know how to drive a digger or a dumper truck?

Here We Are Again!

2008-05-07T06:03:00.000-07:00

We were hoping to have had some of the land cleared in the Winter when all the plants had died back but time was not on our side and we are now into spring and the plants are back!

The plan at the moment is to raise awareness about our garden which will be used as an outside classroom.

We need to build a fence and mend part of the old one and we need to clear the site of any dangers before we can allow the children in to decide what they want their outdoor classroom to look like.

We took some photographs today to show how big our boundary fence needs to be. Around 40 parents, staff and pupils all joined hands across the boundary. The area they are looking into is the land we are going to develop.

A big task? Yes, but not impossible. Keep logging on and read our blog to find out what progress we're making.

Think you can help? Get in touch with the school and let us know.

The Journey Starts Here

2008-01-28T04:17:00.000-08:00

The concept of ‘The Room To Grow’ project is to develop a space that can be used by the children, not only to enhance educational opportunities, but to give them a peaceful area for personal growth and social development.

It is hoped that by giving the children a variety of learning opportunities to develop and use an outdoor classroom and with various zoned areas, we can encourage them to value and care for their environment, foster personal responsibility for learning, independent thinking and active involvement and enterprising attitudes. We also hope that parents will feel empowered to get involved in the work of the school and their children.