Lean Green Eco Machine

Going wild!

With the alternate sunshine and rain we are experiencing at the moment, the plants in the new wild area are developing very well. There are already a number of flowers out and attracting insects.

The worm has turned!

This week the new womery has arrived and members of the eco schools club have been assembling it. We have needed to get a wormery because the Green bin in the staff room provides so much waste each week that it has already filled one compost bin!

This photo illustrates the coir going in which provides the worms with moisture and a medium to move around in.

The worms arrived in a sealed bag with moist paper which protects them during their journey and provides some food and moisture - worms need to be moist so that oxygen can pass through their skin and into their blood.

The completed wormery sits next to the compost bin. We have to give the worms a couple of weeks to settle into their new home before adding any green waste but then it will be all systems go. The crates on the left can be added as the wormery fills up and we constantly rotate them as the waste in the bottom one is ready to be used as compost.

Working with Wight Wildlife

This week pupils from 5GB have been working with Mrs Grogan from Wight Wildlife to understand the importance of biodiversity and to enhance the biodiversity of species living in our school grounds.

Insect nests

The pupils made insect habitats from hollowed out willow stems and bamboo canes. Simply tie a bundle together and put them around the garden to provide a habitat to attract insects.

Here is the insect habitat in situ in the school gardens.

Bird feeders

The pupils learned how to make bird feeders to hang around the garden using pine cones and coconut shells. Firstly, use some string to make a hanging device for the coconut or pine cone once you have finished. Next, get some bird seed and meal worms, add fat and mix together. Then fill the coconut shell or gaps in the pine cone with the mix and hang in the garden.

Bat boxes 

Mrs Grogan gave an interesting talk on bats and their behaviour and supplied us with another 4 bat boxes to make up and put in our school grounds.

Bushwhacked!

This week we have started to trim the bushes behind the CID area which have been left for so long that they have started to grow out of control. We are only trimming the bushes back to tidy it up because they will be home to a variety of insects, spiders, slugs, worms, snails - all species we found whilst doing the work. It was thoroughly tiring work and we all felt a little bushwhacked by the end of it!

Before - overgrown

During - hard at work!

 

After - room for the new bird table!

Wild thing!

Last November we developed a link with Simon Morris, a lecturer in horticulture, from the Isle of Wight College who agreed to help us develop a wild garden in the area behind C6 running along Upper St. James Street.

Mr Morris had planted these seedlings up at the college and this week he came in and planted them into the wild area with members of the Eco-schools working group, the Gardening club and Mr Wilkes.

The species planted were Daisy (Bellis perennis), Honesty (Lunaria annua), Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis), Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum), Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris), Valerian (Valeriana officinalis), Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) and Golden Rod (Solidago canadensis).

You can see the pattern of the planting in this schematic diagram below:

The British Statue of liberty?

This week we have taken delivery of our new bird table which will adorn the area just behind the CID centre when we have trimmed the existing bushes. Here we can see Mr Wilks recreating the pose which greets sailors as they enter New York harbour!

School Grounds 2006-2007

Water butts

  Our application to Southern Water for money to buy some water butts was answered as 3 brand new water butts arrived at school one morning. The butts collect water from the downpipes and when full they allow water to continue to flow down the drain. They have been situated in the patio areas so the gardening club can make maximum use of them.

School Grounds development

We have had a meeting with Mrs Grogan from Wight Wildlife to advise us on developments we can make to our grounds to encourage wildlife and ensure our planters have year round colour. Now that the nice weather has returned us from winter we can continue with our plans to develop the school grounds as follows:

This patio area in the centre of the school is being replanted by the gardening club and the cobbled sections will be brightly painted and picnic tables put out to provide an outdoor lunching facility for pupils.

This area at the back of the CID centre provides a wonderful habitat for all sorts of species and will only be trimmed back to provide a walkway alongside the centre.

This corner will be trimmed back also and a new birdtable with feeders will be installed here.

This area at the front of the school on Upper St James Street is going to become a wild garden which will be trimmed once a year. We will be working with the Isle of Wight College who have been growing some seed plugs of wild flowers which will be planted by the gardening club. A noticeboard will tell the public what species could be living there.

Action plan school grounds 06-07

• Bird/bat boxes – call bat man and install the bird and bat boxes for nesting in early Spring
• Call S. Water/ purchase water butts to collect water from down pipes to water plants
• Wild area development outside C6. Leave area wild to encourage natural species diversity – poss link with local college to provide info board for public.
• Planting of bushes to encourage butterflies etc.
• Planting of borders to encourage year round colour rather than just summer.
• Continue with mural on gym corridor
• Continue to develop the use of the school pond for curriculum use

School Grounds Sept 2005 - July 2006

The Nodehill gardening Club worked very hard to develop several areas of the school grounds.

The patio area outside the library was a particular focus where hanging baskets were put up and new planters were installed providing a lovely splash of colour to the area.

The Art club worked very hard to produce this undersea mural on the Gym corridor.

The Working group made these bat and bird boxes which we will put up around the school to provide nesting facilities for the birds.

School Grounds Sept 2004 - July 2005

The Eco-schools committee met with the School grounds committee and asked for some redevelopment of the school grounds to include more shrubbed and flowered areas for insects and other wildlife to inhabit, bird and bat boxes around the grounds, plants to attract butterflies.

The proposals were accepted and a school gardening club was founded by Mrs Jones to carry out the development of the school grounds. An appeal went out to parents on the newsletter for any surplus gardening materials the school could use and a number of letters were written to various local companies requesting donations of materials or equipment in order to help us improve the grounds.

There was a positive response from parents and several offered time to come and help plant seeds and tidy up flower beds. However, we had no success regards our appeal for donations of materials or equipment from local companies.