June 5, 2023

Grant for Green Good

It has been a year of sustainable successes for our Nature Environment Wildlife Taskforce (NEWTs), who in March, persuaded several schools to get on board with their Meat Free Mondays campaign. A few months later, the group are now putting plans into action to build accessible raised allotment beds in the Orchard; a project that can now be undertaken following the successful application of a grant for £2,500 from the Ganton Education Trust.

The project not only aims to benefit the community’s holistic education but will provide a space to engage in more outreach activities with other local schools and organisations. The NEWTs, made up of Year 7 and 8 students, wrote in their proposal: “We have designed a space that has three large, raised planters, one medium planter and one small planter, all of them are high enough for wheelchair use and separated from each other by a minimum of 90cm to accommodate wheelchair and mobility scooter access. The small planter is specially designed, so that anybody with a disability can comfortably enjoy gardening. We are also using the Quaker values to shape this garden. We want all members of the community to be able to participate equally in gardening as a pastime which we believe is very important.”

The allotment will also be a home for the School’s bees and greenhouse, as well as a test bed for the Eco Club, who are championing circular sustainability with their highly nutritious ‘bokashi soil food’, created via fermented food waste from Oakview Restaurant. The space will also form part of a peace and sensory garden, a separate and exciting venture in partnership with the Foundry College.

Head of Geography and Sustainability Lead, Oliver Staines, remarked “As Head of Sustainability at Leighton Park, I fully endorse the proposal for funding put together by the NEWTs group. They are incredibly excited at the possibility of having a space to grow produce from around the world and throughout the year for the school community to eat and the chance of passing on their green fingered enthusiasm to other students in the school as well.”

Alongside NEWTs, the School is proud to have recently been shortlisted for the CityKidz Magazine Green Award for its various initiatives, the results of which will be announced later this year. CityKidz reported: “When we devised the idea for The Green Awards we wanted first and foremost to give businesses, schools and nurseries the opportunity and platform to share all their hard work. As parents, we know that making eco-friendly choices is front of mind, so through the awards, we also wanted to inform and educate.”

In other green news, Lower Sixth student, Willow, has led a student campaign as part of the club ‘Change Makers – AlterEco’, to successfully gather 460 staff and student signatures for a petition to improve the school’s recycling provision. New recycling have since been dispatched to every classroom and boarding house in the school, with a campaign to encourage their proper use to follow.

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