Day 4

School #6: Bere Regis Primary

Today's visit was to Bere Regis Primary and at 13 miles (the bike-friendly version) the longest journey yet. Long, and beautiful. I followed the Stinsford road out of Dorchester, past Kingston Maurward College and through Tincleton (or was it Dibley? The two are easily confused) and then on up to Throop and Turners Puddle. If you're reading this outside of Dorset, yes these are real places.

8.15am in Moreton Forest. Usually at this time I'm on a bus,
 thinking about coffee

I was slightly against the clock but managed to stop for a moment to take in the morning sounds and delicious piney smells of Moreton Forest. Oh, to be able to do this every morning!

The new school building.

Bere Regis are another of Dorset's schools who have recently moved to a new building, this one on a completely new site at the foot of Black Hill. It's another of the schools to have been built using Dorset County Council's (now  award-winning!) baseline design approach. The design is intended to be low-cost and flexible, and I've found all the baseline schools I've been in have a birght, airy feel, with good facilities and a good practical layout, even if the similarity does mean you sometimes forget which school you're in!


The beautiful school site is bordered on 2 sides by woodland purchased from Brian May. I'm told the legend himself takes an interest in the school and has been known to pop in from time to time!


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Approaching the school I joined the throng of children and families heading up the drive on foot, bike and scooter and was impressed to see hardly any cars using the drive or car park. I left the Hoffmeister with a huggle (a collective noun I've just invented) of bikes in the bike shelter and was greeted by today's heroic gang of children.


The Forest Schools club, led by the endlessly capable Mrs Loakes, meet twice a week BEFORE school. So enthusiastic are the children in fact that they have been known to run up the drive to get started soon as possible! They do a variety of outdoor activities, all practical, and they clearly love it.


Tyres and compost in the storage area - look out for them later!

Since moving to their new school site, Mrs Loakes and the children have been slowly and surely establishing habitats and transferring bits of infrastructure saved from the old site. They showed me the storage area for their outdoor kit (if you're turning green or shouting at the screen right now, yes they do know how lucky they are!).

The compost in the photo was donated by a local garden centre - all the bags are damaged and couldn't be sold. It's always worth asking!

The lorry tyres were also a freebie from a friend of the school. Read on to find out what happens to them!

Also in storage was another work in progress. A compost bin, full of not compost but plastic bottles. Back at the old school they had built a plastic bottle greenhouse; everyone had helped to cut up the bottles and thread them onto canes in the frame. Now a couple of years old and having survived the move it's in need of repair.

The bottle collection is going well though and soon they will be able to patch up the frame and reassemble it in it's new home!

Next the children led me up across their (beautifully landscaped) grounds to the Forest School area. Here it is on the approach - you can really see the contrast between the vegetation in the Forest School area behind the fence and the mown field outside. It also feels completely different once you're inside - it's a real haven from the rest of the world, full of plants and insect life.

Tyres, in preparation and planted up with salads and buddleia

Now, those tyres we met earlier. They are lorry tyres and HEAVY! The Forest Schools club have been busy moving them from the storage area to their Forest Schools site. It must have been hard work and Mrs Loakes assures me the children had to put their teamwork skills to use to do it! 

And here's what happens to them.....a lorry tyre makes an perfect planter! You can see in the picture that the children first line them with plastic with a few drainage holes, then fill them with compost and use them for planting. Brilliant recycling!

Who needs expensive raised beds?



Tyre pond under construction

Another creative use for a tyre on display here. This time a tractor tyre, donated by a parent. Even bigger and heavier than the lorry tyres, but the children nonetheless managed to move it from near the school entrance to it's resting place here.

Can you tell what it's for? Eventually the children will build up the inside with bricks or stones, the container inside will fill up with rainwater and they will have a mini pond.

A pond doesn't have to be big; even in a small container like this the wildlife will find it's way. Can't wait to see who's living in here a year from now!  

What to do with the old Christmas tree? Problem solved!

Also in the area was this spectacular bug hotel. It was neatly stuffed with lots of different natural materials......including one Reg had never seen before in a bug hotel! Can you spot the Christmas tree branches?

The children had asked parents to send in their old Christmas trees, and in Forest Schools they had used bow saw and loppers to remove the branches and cut them down to size.

They were also allowed to burn some of the tree and discovered that Christmas tree ignites very well.

Full genius points for a great recycling idea!

Perhaps you noticed in the photo above that there were two structures in the Forest School area. One is the shed where they keep their tools. The other is this majestic tipi!

The children constructed this themselves under the guidance of Mrs Loakes. The hazel poles that make the frame were salvaged from the old school. The children lashed them together and then covered the frame with tarpaulin to make this semi-permanent structure.

The absolute highlight of the morning was being invited inside the tipi! Inside was delightfully cosy and the children obviously felt at home. They even served me a drink on their pallet table :)

 

Mrs Loakes said they use the tipi to have snacks and talk about their work. The intimate atmosphere that the tipi creates makes it a perfect place to work with the children speaking and listening.

They never, EVER eat sweets in there. Never.

Inside the tipi - I can
 recommend the hospitality!

It was all so cosy and welcoming I didn't want to leave, but we had work to do!

My last stop was to visit Mrs Adkins and Kimmeridge class (Year 3/4) for a Bee Kind session.

We had a brief chat about bees and the challenges they face - including the problem of insecticides, which the children knew a lot about, many of them coming from farming backgrounds.

Then outside to make our bee-friendly seed bombs. I can safely say I'm an expert at this now! The children got completely stuck in and messy, and between us we made about 90 seed bombs. Mr Roberts dropped by just at the right moment for Mrs Adkins to persuade him to let the children sow them in school. Being an excellent sport, he agreed :)

It turned out that by complete coincidence the science lesson planned for that afternoon was about pollination. Don't you just love it when things fall into place :)

All in all, it was a fantastic morning. With her Forest School and gardening clubs, Mrs Loakes is in her element. Utterly dedicated to nurturing young people and using the environment, she knows her way around a tool shed and knows how to bring the best out of the children she works with.

With another school on the other side of Dorchester to get to, I pelted back to County Hall, Power mode all the way. Maximum speed 30mph :)

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