Memorial Garden News - lots of people chipping in to help in different ways.

Pupils have continued to work hard in the Memorial Garden.  Our focus right now is to put edging round all the paths that Craig laid for us. 

Ian our woodworking technician cut the timbers down for us...

...Dougal helps carry the them to the garden.

Huge thanks to John of Buchan Timber for donating the wooden stakes used as pegs to hold everything in place. 

Accurate work is required to get it just perfect! 

Our faithful volunteer Liz comes in to help!

Pupils continue to rake and collect stones as the soil is very poor.

Talking of stones - this Friday is due to be our BIG DIG DAY!  S5 pupils are getting sponsored to clear as many stones as possible in a full day of work.  If you can, please help by donating to help us buy gabions to put the stones into.  If you are in the area on Friday, please pass by to cheer the boys on too!

Garden designer Jo Evans came in to see progress and is managing to source plants and possibly more materials for us so thank you to her too 😊

Pupils working with Mrs Kershaw have also been busy and creative

These plaques will look lovely in the garden.

Thank you to all these lovely folk helping in so many different ways - it is great to see real progress for our Memorial Garden space.

A garden show to celebrate our Green Butterfly Award from Aberdeenshire ...

This show was created for the Green Butterfly Awards presentation and has recently been converted for online viewing so please enjoy!

Exciting News - Memorial Garden gets started!

On Monday this week, local contractor Craig Reid brought in earth moving equipment to get started on our Memorial Garden.

Despite the bitter cold and high winds, he dug out a circular path...

...and a square platform in the middle where we will be building a gazebo.

Breedon Group delivered sub-base material free of charge...

...over 47 tonnes of it!

Tuesday was spent transporting it to the garden...

...to fill in the newly dug trenches.

Things progressed and by the end of the day...

...it was looking fabulous!

A huge thank you goes to both guys - we could never have done this without you!

The S3 pupils were out on Wednesday as we still have a lot of work to do.

They started raking to level the soil and remove stones.  We need to put edging around the path and start planting areas.  JRD has donated some timber for us to get started with this.  Craig is then happy to return to put a top-dressing onto the path to give it a smart finish after we have done the muddy work!

Watch this space to see things progress 😊

Interact group plant crocus bulbs for Rotary End Polio campaign

The polytunnel was full of activity on Friday 8th November.  Hilary Gordon came in from Ellon Rotary to work with the Interacti group planting crocus bulbs.

It is part of their End Polio campaign.

As well as being for a good cause, they always brighten up the garden in spring.  We will welcome the group back then to see them in full bloom :)

In other news, pupils are busy weeding, mulching and covering beds for the winter this year.

Harvesting too...

...produce boxes are selling well...

Keira enjoyed taking an ornamental (but also highly edible!) cabbage home too.

She and...

 

...Patrick were also given a green butterfly badge as they have helped with the garden reliably over the years at the lunchtime club.  Keep up the good work you two!

Soup Share event with Ellon Resource Centre

First day back after the October holidays - Monday 28th October - we hosted the Ellon Resource Centre folks for soup, rolls and Rhubarb muffins :)

The soup was school-grown and cooked by pupils - Carrot and Coriander, and Pumpkin.  The muffins also had our very own rhubarb in.

A huge thank you to (retired) Mrs Brown for coming in to do the catering.  S3 pupils helped her whilst others were setting up bowls and plates in the poly-tunnel.

Thanks also to S5 pupils who helped carry equipment and tables out to set up ready for our guests.

Whilst everyone enjoyed the food, Miss Swallow did a little speech and then presented individuals with a certificate to thank them for all their hard work in the garden.  The group help maintain the garden throughout the spring and summer so they have a huge impact!  They were also awarded a Green Butterfly Badge each to wear with pride - these were given to us by the Aberdeenshire Environmental Forum to acknowledge the fantastic garden we now have at the Academy.

Thank you to everyone for coming - see you again in the Spring!

In a spot of other news - during the holiday, we took delivery of a Gazebo for the Memorial Garden area.  Peter Haycock from Trimstyle Decor delivered it in person to us.

We hope the paths will be constructed during November and will then be able to build this structure so things should be looking a lot better by the Spring time when we can hopefully start landscaping and planting!

Garden Awards Ceremony

Front row left to right: Jim McColl from BBC's Beechgrove Garden programme presents S3 pupils Darren Bryce, Jacob Vavangas and Dougal MacIver with their Grow and Learn Roots Award.  

Back row - Ross Watson (S5) was awarded his Silver ASDAN certificate, Collin Stirling representing the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Socitety and Head Teacher Pauline Buchan 

Pupils worked really hard to clear the poly-tunnel classroom of all our paraphernalia! 

They carried chairs across... 

...and set them out for the guests.

Everyone was very excited!

We also tidied the main poly-tunnel tables ready for soup and sandwiches to be served.  Pupils had made the soup with Mrs Adamson and kept it in the freezer - potato and broad bean, carrot and corriander - all from our own produce.  So a huge thank you to the cooking team!

We also laid out folders of work for our Jim and Colin to see.

All the pupils welcomed Jim and Colin at the door and escorted them to the garden area.

They chatted as they walked...

...and gave Jim a full tour of all our planting and composting areas.

They thought the raspberries were delicious!

Once parents and carers arrived, the seniors served soup and sandwiches for all to enjoy.

Dr Richardson's class had a good discussion around trees and climate change...

...then it was time for the ceremony.  Miss Swallow welcomed all those assembled and spoke about the course and a little about seeds!  Mrs Buchan awarded the ASDAN certificate, then Jim McColl gave a talk and awarded the Grow and Learn Certificates.

Each pupil also got a pin badge to wear with pride!

Thank you to all those who came to the ceremony and also to those who help so often behind the scenes - your efforts are much appreciated and make such lovely occasions possible!

💮  😊  💮

Proud to be presented with a Green Butterfly Award

We are all delighted to have been awarded a Green Butterfly from the Aberdeenshire Environmental Forum.  This is an annual award presented to projects that help create a better environment.  It is a fabulous acknowledgement of all the hard work put in by pupils, staff and community volunteers over the last four years.

Three members of staff accompanied two senior and five third year pupils to the event held at the Garioch Education Centre, Inverurie during the evening of Thursday 12th September.  They each had props representing their favourite jobs in the garden.  They did a presentation and we played a slide show illustrating how the garden has developed since we moved to our new site.

They passed the Green Butterfly plaque along the line...

...and we each received a Green Butterfly badge to wear with pride!

Well done everyone!  A huge thank you also goes to all the people who could not be there but have helped enormously in the garden - this is a fantastic team achievement!