Sacred Heart Environmental Project

We have recently launched our Environmental Wellbeing Outdoor Education Project thanks to £1420, received from the Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram, and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Community Environment Fund.

The £500,000 fund has been distributed to groups for projects which will improve the environment across Liverpool City Region after the Metro Mayor pledged to support community environment projects.

The project, commenced in March 2021, will enhance the whole school and wider school community. There will be a large, much improved, green outside space to both learn in and enjoy. This will enable children to partake in and learn about the environment, grow wildlife friendly flowers to encourage both insects and wildlife and plant, grow/produce fruit and vegetables for all to eat. Pupils will learn where rainwater & compost comes from and its benefits to the environment, all transferable skills that they will hopefully take forward into their adult life.

A wildflower garden and conservation area will be planted and run along the boundary fencing of the school (Hoylake Road) which will be used both as an educational learning tool for pupils and for the enjoyment of the whole community. This will improve the habitat for butterflies and pollinating insects, which in turn will benefit the planting of a fruit orchard. Bird boxes, nesting boxes, bird baths, bug hotels and the like will be constructed and placed in the school grounds to encourage wildlife.

The project will include a seating area, for both outdoor learning and outdoor eating, a larger area to walk around and a planted garden and orchard area to both work in and enjoy. Stress and anxiety levels in both pupils and staff will be reduced and a wider sense of school community/togetherness will be developed.

The school plans to have regular volunteer days, were we will invite parents to help plant and tend to the wildflower areas, orchards and vegetable plots (Covid permitting). Pupils, staff and parents will maintain the project following the completion date and we envisage this to be a beneficial, long term, ever-growing project for future generations to come and enjoy.

This project started during the initial wave of the Covid lock down as the school found it beneficial to have the pupils and staff spending as much time as possible learning outdoors, for their health and wellbeing. We created an area where we planted flowerbeds and tubs, created an outdoor seating area for both eating, learning and socialising, following restrictions imposed.  We have now realised the benefits of this and with the grant funding, are able to expand and continue the project to grow and be of benefit to both the environment and wider school community.

The project will give the whole school community access to free, healthy food from the orchard and vegetable plots. Alongside the harvesting we aim to produce healthy option recipes for the pupils to both make and enjoy thus improve life chances as the children will not only produce but also prepare and eat nutritious food.

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