Pupils and staff at King James Academy in Royston are taking learning outside the classroom thanks to a new outdoor space.
The school worked with volunteers from St James' Place Wealth Management ands HandsOn to design and build the new outdoor classroom and Year 5 obstacle course.
Children from across the school gave their input to the design team, who incorporated their ideas into the space. The pupils also cut the ribbon themselves to officially open the area.
The ribbon cutting ceremony took place on Thursday, September 28.
Two pupils - one from Year 5 and one from Year 7 - made a speech to the gathered volunteers to thank them for their efforts and explain the positive impact the new resources would have on the school community.
One child said: "Thank you for all you have done - not many children have the opportunity to have this and we are very grateful."
The aim of the outdoor classroom is to give children the opportunity to learn outdoors and reestablish the use of the school's Millennium Field, which opened 23 years ago.
The Millennium Field contains a rare grassland that was repurposed in 1999 following the demolition of the Catholic Primary School on Melbourn Road.
In 2000, the field was created to be a chalkland grassland ecosystem, similar to Royston's Therfield Heath. Since then it has become overgrown and contains dense brambles.
The redevelopment of the Millennium Field aimed to preserve the essence of the original project, removing all brambles and nettles and repurposing any soil which is dug up.
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A planning statement put foward by the school for the project said: "Any bare soil will be quickly re-colonised by grass species from the field.
"The trees in the middle are not part of the project - they are apple trees and buddleia - they may be useful for shade but equally if they are in the way of the shelter they should be removed.
"The proposed shelter could easily fill the central area and all the vegetation in this area could be removed.
"The grass should be mown every year, in the autumn after all of the flowers have withered away and it is very important that the grass clippings are removed from the site - this will remove the brambles which grow every year and also maintain the grassland habitat.
"This will mean that the area around the shelter could be used as an Ecology Survey area in the future."
Headteacher Tom Linnane said that KJAR is "delighted" with their new outdoor space, which is situated equidistant between the two school sites, linking the junior and the senior school.
He said: "It is hoped that the space will help to 'inspire excellence and build character', supporting learning outside of the classroom.
"The academy is extremely grateful for all the help and support of the volunteers who gave up their time, without whom this development would not have been possible."
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