News

Chalton Lower School in Bedfordshire received a special visit from staff at Bilfinger Berger Project Investments (BBPI) last month. The purpose of the visit was to transform a neglected nature reserve at the bottom of the school grounds into a wildlife area and forest school that was user-friendly for the children and teachers.

Setting themselves a real task the 22 volunteers arrived at 8am in good spirits and pumped up for the day’s challenge. Their objective was to create a long footpath that lead to an outdoor classroom with seating for up to 28 children, clearing away large areas of overgrown nettles and creating various wildlife habitats. This was to be done all in one day.

The team, comprising a mix of staff from different departments and rank, started by digging up deep rooted nettles, rotavating the ground and skimming top soil to create the path and outdoor classroom. Seating was then cemented into the ground and bark laid on top of the cleared ground.

Whilst all this was going on, another group attacked more deep rooted weeds and pruned back low growing branches and overgrown bushes. A large bug hotel was then constructed and wildlife habitats such as ladybird boxes, butterfly towers and bird boxes were put up around the site.

Liz Noble, Head teacher at Chalton Lower Primary School said,

“It was an amazing transformation. The team worked extremely hard to achieve what they did. It has created a wonderful resource for the children to use as part of their lessons. The children were very ecited to see the changes. ‘Amazing' and 'fantastic' were just a couple of words they used to describe what they saw. They had great fun exploring the area and finding the new additions to the reserve. Further gasps of amazement were heard when they arrived at the seating area to find the wooden seating, which they promptly sat upon. Our thanks to Bilfinger Berger Project Investments for completing this for us.”

The project was supported by Business in the Community’s employee volunteering programme, CARES. Chris Williams, Area Manager for BITC, commented,

“It was good to see how passionately the volunteers tackled the task, making a real difference in a way that was sympathetic to the pupils’ wishes whilst remaining true to the atmosphere of the reserve.”

A local garden centre, Poplars, also assisted with the challenge by supplying raw materials and providing advice.

Martin Pugh, Co-Managing Director at BBPI who also took part in the challenge, enthused,

“What a terrific day it was, not only in terms of showing the real power of teamwork in making things happen, but also the great sense of fun and enjoyment I sensed we all had at the same time! So much so that I really got the feeling that people's spirits would have been only mildly dampened had the weather not been quite so perfect.”

Yesterday, the official opening took place when teachers, children, parents and governors were invited along to see the new outdoor space. Representatives from BBPI also attended who all felt a great sense of satisfaction and achievement especially when they witnessed the new area being used by the children.

Chalton Lower school has 46 pupils aged 4 to 9 and is a feeder to Harlington Upper School in Bedfordshire, one of BBPI’s PFI education projects which is now successfully in full operation.