At Milford Haven School, we have developed Yr Ardd Ddysgu, our outdoor learning space that focuses on sustainability, innovation, creativity and wellbeing.
The Wellbeing of Future Generations Act, Curriculum for Wales and Pembrokeshire Outdoor Schools inspired the school to create a space where pupils can learn to make healthy, informed, lifelong decisions and be proactive global citizens.
In June of 2023 the development of the garden started and in September 2023 it was launched to the whole school and community at a Summer Support Picnic. The development of the outdoor learning space continues but we have run many exciting projects and have many more planned in the future.
Pupils from our Nurture provision Fair Winds got stuck in preparing the space for our Summer Support Picnic that launched the garden to the whole school and the community. They worked with Milford Haven Men’s Shed to start clearance and make some wonderful bird boxes and bug hotels to attract wildlife and then worked together to create a natural tree dome with log circle, vegetable and growing patches and a planting table.
In September 2023 we launched the garden to the whole school and wider community with a Summer Support Picnic. Pupils and community members were invited into the garden to take part in outdoor activities such as planting, make your own bird feed, mindfulness sessions and more.
Pupils teamed up with Milford Haven Men’s Shed to learn about garden maintenance and woodwork. They used recycled wood to create birdboxes and bug hotels. Learning all about recycling products and the benefit on the environment got them thinking about other things they could do to reuse and recycle old products to give them a new life.
Pupils in Usk walked to the local woods to collect materials to build a birds nest. After being fascinated with a nest that a Seagull had built right outside their classroom window they wanted to give it a go. Pupils collected twigs, leaves, moss and feathers to create their nests and later left them outside for smaller birds to make use of.
Using the skills they learned from working with Milford Haven Men’s Shed pupils worked together to use old pallets to create birdboxes and birdfeeders. They then got create and decided to launch the Nurture & Outreach Nature Shop and sell their products at the MHS Christmas Fayre.
A Year 8 Maths class attended an Apple Picking Project in St Brides Walled Garden with Tom from Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. They spent the day picking apples, making juice and toasting apple sticks. They then went back into the classroom and used what they had learned to complete some maths challenges.
Year 10 Built Environment students enjoyed a visit to the Cilrhedyn Woodland Centre courtesy of PCNPA. We had an informative guided woodland walk where we discussed managed woodlands and biodiversity and then saw how the team make the gates used on the Coast Path.
We are really grateful to the team at the Woodland Centre in the Gwaun Valley for their time, patience and expertise, students are making a section of a Coast Path gate as their heritage carpentry task so this will set the task up perfectly.
Watch this space as we are embarking on a project to make a gate to be used on a local section of the coast path with the expert help of the PCNPA team.
Pupils from the School Based Youth Team have been working hard to clear our current pond and replace the pond liner so that we can begin to refill it and encourage wildlife back into the garden.
The Maths & Numeracy AOLE worked with Tom from Pembrokeshire Coast National Park to set up a log circle and fire pit. After speaking with Tom about safety around a fire pit they had to calculate the distance of the logs and the trees to ensure the fire pit can be used safely.
