A Minute of Mud Week 3 - ‘The Art of Possible in kent’
This week I went on an exciting road trip, one that took me back to the town where I was born, Maidstone in Kent. They call Kent the ‘Garden of England’ and I think for good reason. My fondest memories are picking apples from trees in my Grandma's garden, walking up the North Downs with my class at primary school to take part in the annual Egg Rolling Easter ritual (think cheese rolling but with decorated hard boiled eggs). There are rows and rows of hop vines in fields all over the place, accompanied by the pointed tops of the oast houses that traditionally the hops were dried in. It’s the unmistakable skyline of Kent and I do enjoy popping back when I get the chance.
This time I was back to visit a group of amazing people at an equally amazing place. Five Acre Wood School is a SEN school for students with profound, severe and complex learning difficulties. It is the largest SEN school in England with over 800 students. They have several sites across the town but I was visiting their largest in Boughton Lane to take a look around. They have a large site with lots of outdoor spaces, their OLE (or Outdoor Learning Environment) is where they offer forest school learning. They used to have a small farm with petting animals which they are looking to develop again and I couldn't help but notice an entire half of an aeroplane parked in one of the playgrounds. This unique object is now their library, complete with a unique magical and sensory world where students can escape for some quiet reading time by going through a tunnel into the plane's old cargo hold.
Over lunch in a cafe on a refurbished train carriage (of course), which is an enterprise project to help students learn customer service skills, headteacher Tim and outdoor learning lead Paul explained their vision. They want nature, growing stuff, plants and love of the outdoors to play a vital role in supporting their students wellbeing, resilience and confidence. They have grand plans; Tim talks about ‘the art of possible’ and their energy and enthusiasm for the environment they are trying to create for these children and young people is infectious. They will be creating their own plant nursery where students grow plug plants to sell in their onsite shop and they want to develop a series of construction areas where students can learn landscaping skills, such as laying patios and putting up fencing.
I came away with a smile on my face and a warm feeling inside. There are pockets of such good in the world, places where people really care about one another and helping others achieve, it was a trip I won't forget and one I might be doing more regularly…because…(drum roll please)
…I am delighted to announce that this week's ‘Mud in the News’ is a selfish one. I am honoured that the school wants to work with me on a long term partnership that helps them rethink some of their outdoors areas and turn them into brilliant spaces for their students to learn and relax. Starting in the spring of next year we will transform a corner of their vast site into a reflection garden. I can’t wait.
I want to showcase the brilliant work of this fantastic school so have a look at their website and follow me on social media for more updates as we build the garden.