Caerphilly School in Bid for School Pond

A leading Caerphilly school has committed to diversifying learning for their pupils with the introduction of a school pond.

St Helen’s have introduced a pond development project after a member of the school council suggested the idea a number of years ago. Speaking about their ambitions Tim Crosse, Headteacher of the school said ‘we decided to develop an area that pupils can use for their science work and to help build an awareness and an empathy for environmental issues. Our area will be based on a similar area that sits in the National Botanical Gardens. The idea of raised ponds is to support pupils safety and ease with which they can study pond life’.

Senior Account Management Team Laura Jeffreys and Gemma Hill recently visited the school to find out more. Laura said of the project ‘changing the way students look at a subject often brings it to life. The idea of a pond at St Helen’s really impressed Gemma and I. There is the obvious environmental learning the nature-based project brings to the students, but also how brilliant to have an opportunity to see learning come to life!’.

The school recognises how costly the project may become and the team steering the project are looking for support from the local business community. Laura added ‘we are going to do our best to help to raise funds for the pond – if there are any garden centres, suppliers etc. out there who can volunteer skills, materials or anything else that might help the initiative, we would be overwhelmed’.