Last week children, teachers and parents were joined by Elliotts, the South’s largest independent supplier of building products to the trade and public, to celebrate the opening of a new garden at Fordingbridge Junior School.
The garden was designed by the students for the Elliotts School Competition 2016 and fought off tough competition from across Hampshire to win first place and see their design brought to life.
The judging panel were full of praise for their unique and inclusive design which was created specially to help their classmates of all abilities enjoy their playtime outdoors.
The finished garden features a sensory pathway with textures, bumps in the path and beds soon to be filled with herbs and fragrant plants. The school will also be adding musical instruments and wind chimes to the garden to give the children a full sensory experience.
Paul Cleary, sales director at Elliotts said “It’s brilliant to see the finished garden, and we’re really happy to have been able to fund and supply materials for this project.
“It’s been a privilege to work with the wonderful bright young minds from Fordingbridge Junior School and we’d also like to thank New Forest Landscaping for doing such an excellent job of realising the winning design. From us at Elliotts, to the landscaping team and the school, this is a project everyone should feel proud of.”
The new outdoor space was officially opened by the Mayor of Fordingbridge, Malcolm Connolly who commented,
“I’ve had the pleasure of opening many sensory gardens and this is by far one of the best ones yet,
He added, “I’ll be coming back to have a seat in this lovely garden!”
Schools from all over the South entered the competition and were asked to submit a design showing how they would like Elliotts to help transform a patch of land on their site, with a written appeal stating why the new area would make all the difference to their school.
Katie Card, year three teacher at Fordingbridge Junior School said; “We couldn’t believe it when we won the competition, and now, after seeing the finished project we’re very pleased with the result.
“This garden is truly for the children, and we’re looking forward to them being able to maintain and add even more to it in the coming years. A huge thank you to Elliotts for making our children’s dreams come true.”
