Press release:
Flint and Holywell Rotary Club , Mold Lions , Hollingsworth Group , Puritan Stone , Westbridge Furniture , Thorncliffe Builders Merchants , Simon O`Rourke , P&A Group and Truwood Furniture all joined forces to turn a dangerous old playground area ( see pic 1) into a Forest School that the children of Canolfan Enfys School can enjoy safely.
The project has taken 3 years in total and is a good news story for Flintshire. If you would like more information or to go to the School to meet the staff and see the area , then please contact myself or Carol Speed ( School Learning Manager). Below is a brief outline of the project and the school.
Paul Islip (Rotary Club of Flint and Holywell)
CANOLFAN ENFYS – FOREST SCHOOL PROJECT
Canolfan Enfys is a small educational provision for up to 24 children between 3 and 7 yrs old who have learning and/or behavioural difficulties. Our aim is to enable children to develop their social and learning skills in a holistic way and hopefully return them to mainstream schooling.
It is the only provision of its type in the Flintshire catering for extremely challenging, very young children. We are not funded like mainstream schools and do not have a PTA to help with extra fundraising so have to rely on generating funds ourselves from different sources. However, this has not deterred us from taking on a large project which will be of enormous benefit in the long term, to the children we teach.
We would like to develop the outside area so we can provide and enriching learning area that brings the classroom outside and allows children to learn in a structured but less formal way, enhancing their skills and nurturing their natural curiosity about the world around them. The children we teach and work with all respond to learning in the outdoor environment. Our plan is to provide a small forest school area with a shelter and provision for outdoor cooking on a small fire – we are fortunate to have 2 fully qualified Forest school teachers on out staff. In addition, a garden with raised beds and possibly a small pond, and area for insects and wild flowers and in the play area, a mud kitchen, an outdoor water, construction, music and small world and areas.
We have had removed an old and unsafe adventure playground equipment and this will now be cleared, levelled and top soil laid so we can begin planting trees. Next we need to lay wood chip pathways, create a seating area and shelter and have screening (brushwood/willow screens) attached to the railings as we are in a very public and exposed area being on a busy road junction in a residential area.
Original state of site:
