Our SARA (Spiritual and Reflection Area) Garden
As a church school, our SARA Garden is an area to encourage our pupils to reflect, find peace and quiet and to allow for prayer, reflection and peer mediation. Our SARA garden is set slightly apart from the rest of the school grounds to create an ambience and atmosphere that is special and sacred, providing additional SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural) opportunities and adding a spiritual dimension to outdoor learning.
We have dedicated time and love to bringing this special, reflective outdoor space back to being an area of beauty where our children and staff can find quiet and calm. Our plan is for the children, through the school pupil council, to reflect on its use and take ownership of how we develop it further in the future.
Over recent years, our original Spiritual Garden had become a little overgrown with more of its space been taken over by our resident chickens. Fast forward 18 months, where…
DIY SOS comes in spirit to Ann Edwards
Over recent years, our original Spiritual Garden had become a little overgrown with more of its space been taken over by our resident chickens. Fast forward 18 months, where we have dedicated time and love to bringing it back to being an area of beauty where our children and staff can find quiet and calm.
Here is a brief overview of what the works entailed!
It was a much bigger undertaking than we originally anticipated. Our amazing Site Manager, Mr Hitchings, took on this challenge and put our design into action. Some of the work included:
- Clearing and draining out the entire pond, refilling it and then creating a wire scaffold around it to grow our living hedge on.
- Removing the trees to other areas of the grounds to create more space and light as well as enclosing the area to make it feel like a special space to visit.
- Mr Hitchings also made raised planting beds for sensory plants, and repainted picnic benches to provide seating.
We are continuing to add to this project, taking on feedback from the pupils and staff, by adding in their ideas. Most recently, as part of a Lockdown activity, the children painted positivity pebbles to be included in the SARA garden.
Please click on the SARA Garden images below to enlarge them and open the scrolling gallery viewer:
