.png)
On Thursday 2nd May, a group of 13 students from Goldsworth Primary School took part in their Play Your Part Day at Herschel Park in Slough.
After a classroom overview and student goal setting session around our four key talents of Resilience, Confidence, Communication and Self Awareness, we took a 45-minute minibus ride from Woking to Slough. Our students were excited to be outside for the day!
Upon arrival at Herschel Park, Ian the Park Manager, explained our task of clearing brambles, and how important the different levels of bramble growth was for diversity of wildlife. He then talked through the tools everyone would be using and the importance of using them safely! Gloves on and tools to hand, we split off into four groups, each lead by a coach, to start clearing our patches, which were much taller and wider than we were!
It didn’t take long for the students to cut paths through the brambles so that they could also start working from the back, and create piles of waste, ready for Ian to pick up. Throughout the day we saw great use of the talents, with groups working together, certain students taking the lead and all showing resilience to get the job done.
After a lunch break (which included entertaining park visitors – babies and dogs!), the groups swapped around and we continued clearing as much of the bramble as we could. Some of the students used their initiative whilst chopping their way through the bramble by making a den. Ian was very impressed with the results and confirmed that we’d once again exceeded his expectations of how much we were able to cut back. We came away with a few scratches, but all the better for an active day in the fresh air.
After our minibus ride home and a very excited return, we gathered into our coaching groups to reflect on the day and see if we’d achieved our goals. Everyone agreed that they’d got something out of the day. Small prizes were awarded for those that had clearly demonstrated the key talents.
The quote of the day was ‘I never knew clearing brambles could be this much fun!’ Thank you very much to Ian at Herschel Park for hosting our Play Your Part day!
- Anne Butler, Yes Futures Coach
To find out more about how your students could get involved with the Yes Futures Programmes, please contact Sophie, Impact Manager: sophie@yesfutures.org, 07908 687779 or visit our website.
If you're interested in becoming a Play Your Part partner, please contact Helena, Head of Programmes: helena@yesfutures.org.