STEAM project “Granny’s pond”

One of our new STEAM projects for this term (and possibly something that will be ongoing in future years) is trying to reinstate the school pond in one of the paddocks on the edge of the school site. It is in a safely fenced off area but is heavily overgrown and some of our pupils have taken on the challenge of getting the pond back to its former glory!

Date: 10th September

Present: 15 children

Projects: Tree cutting, bramble clearing, sloe tree cutting back, large tree cutting down and making into smaller pieces to be burnt.

Children comments:

When I first saw the pond, I thought it would take forever, but we have done a lot already.

We took down the overhanging branches that were over the pond, this cleared the area to allow more light into the pond.

We cleared the path using secateurs and saws cutting branches.  We used the saws to cut the thick branches – we used the “rule of thumb” – a saw is needed if the branch is thicker than your thumb.

We measured the size of the pond and this allowed us to then start to work out how much pond liner we were going to need. It was difficult to measure as we were unsure how deep the pond would be.  To measure the length of the pond our tape measure wasn’t long enough so we had to measure to a point and then start again and use it twice.

We cut down lots of trees and dead branches – this would help encourage further growth where we wanted it and clear it where we didn’t.

We found lots of strange things – these included a brick, an old solar powered light and a hula hoop.  We also found a fence post which we hope to be able to use.

Miss Dean was worried about the pile of brash as it would attract hedgehogs and they may hide in the pile so we must be careful if we leave it and then have a bonfire.

We cleared the gate and other areas of brambles – the blackberries were delicious – when we managed to get them before the dogs!