Google volunteers

Christ Church SW9 was delighted to welcome a team of Google volunteers for the day on Friday. The team worked with our year 3 children on the roof garden clearing and adding soil improver in preparation for the new school year. In the afternoon they joined the class to cook duck eggs and pittas in the Dutch oven.  The children were extremely interested in the teams work at Google. They asked loads of questions about advertising and programming, however the Google Doodle was the main topic of conversation as it is used on a regular basis as a provocation for their lessons.

Thank you for your support Google.

Reception recording the first of our wild flowers.

Tally charts and still life drawing, were the tools used by reception to capture the first wild flowers of spring.

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Strawberry Runners

We have started to increase our strawberry patch by planting the runners from the veggie garden into the roof garden. Spring is definitely on it’s way.

Sowing the wild flower seeds

Sowing has started on the roof garden. We removed the last of the unwanted weeds to  ensure the seedlings have the best possible chance to establish themselves. We sowed a mix of wild flowers native to England along with Teasel, Rudbeckia, Penstemon, Gazania and Red hot poker. Fingers crossed by June / July the garden will be covered in flowers, encouraging bees, butterflies, birds and all sorts of bugs.

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Progress to Date

The roof bug pond is taking shape. Wet areas are an essential requirement for many invertebrate species. We are creating several different habitat features to maximise the potential of our bio-diverse roof to support invertebrates and other wildlife.

The Roof Garden has started its transformation

Changing the roof garden and marking out the different areas. The area will be covered in wild flowers which will take a couple of seasons to become established. The Outdoor structures club will be helping with the transformation.

• A  pizza and herb tea garden, in the shape of a pizza.
• A cob pizza oven with side table to prepare the pizzas.
• Small pond area to ensure any bugs that move in will have water
• A bug hotel with different habitats, straw, pinecones, sand, rubble etc
• Solitary bee hive, created by year 3
• Fairy Garden with their own caravan!!
• A chicken coop with 4 chickens
• Log circle for discussion, sharing ideas, findings and the odd pizza or two

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The Roof Garden Has Great Potential

The roof garden before gardening club took over responsibility for its up keep. The weeds were knee high!!