A look inside the Covid garden project still growing strong three years on
A Telford primary school has celebrated the opening of its new outdoor classroom, to round off its Covid garden project.
The staff and pupils that remained in school at Donnington Wood Infant School and Nursery during lockdown spent much of the crisis outside.
They dug, sowed seeds, made dens and worked to create what is now known as the school's Rainbow Garden.
Now, following funding from the Donnington Parish Council, the school have opened the garden's latest addition - the Rainbow Garden Room.
A spokesperson from the school explained: "Lockdown, as challenging as it was, presented an amazing opportunity to finally put our dream of creating a garden into action.
"We had always wanted to grow our own fruit and vegetables and create a green space of our own, especially as we are so lucky to have so much land.
"It was only time that prevented us. Once the start of making the garden was in motion, we had a busy team of children who took the lead in designing the new areas in the previously unused space."
They created a 'Peter Rabbit patch' complete with a Peter scarecrow, a rainbow stage for outdoor performances and a mini wildlife pond.
After hearing about the green-fingered work of the school, Donnington Parish Council donated £7,000 to help fund its outdoor pursuits.
On Thursday, the school unveiled its new Rainbow Garden Room, a large timber shed that will allow indoor outdoor-education in the colder months.
Donnington parish councillor Tom Hoof said he was thrilled to help support the project.
Councillor Hoof said: "I'm really excited to support anything that provides outdoor education, that will help children understand about vegetables.
"The amazing thing about this project is that the parents are so heavily involved. They're really passionate about the project, leading the gardening club and doing their own fundraising project."
The school said the help of the community had been fundamental in the project.
A spokesperson said: "Early on we decided that we wanted to keep our new space as eco-friendly as possible. This meant that we would re-use and recycle as much as we could and whenever we could.
"Old gates that would have ended up in landfill became a hidey hole tunnel, which also doubles up as a support frame for climbing plants, such as French Beans, peas and nasturtiums.
"We also grew the majority of plants from seeds to save on costs and we have been so grateful for the kind donations from our wider community too.
"Our school motto is ‘Learning, caring, preparing’ and we firmly believe that the Rainbow Garden fully encompasses this.
"Learning has been brought to life many aspects of the curriculum, particularly while learning about life cycles, mini-beasts and where our food comes from; encouraging a healthier lifestyle. Many children have tried vegetables that they usually would not have tasted before."
