Junior School opens its new Conservation Pond

On Thursday 6th May, Junior School was delighted to hold its official Pond Opening Ceremony and to unveil its new pond and conservation area to parents and staff from across the School.

Mrs Morris cut the ribbon and revealed the name of the new pond, chosen through a competition open to all girls in Junior School. The winning name was 'Daisy Pond', which was the name picked by both Lucy in Year 5 and Hana in Year 4, who each received a certificate and prize.

The opening ceremony was part of a day of environment-based activities for Junior School. Girls sold plants and vegetables that they had grown themselves as well as home-baked cakes, with proceeds going towards an underwater camera.

This exciting new area will allow the girls to have an outdoor classroom to study wild flowers, insects and birds, and an opportunity to experience varied habitats within the confines of the school grounds. The site for the pond was chosen for its natural woodland qualities, with numerous oak trees which provide the best habitat for British wildlife.

The pond will provide a home to Canadian pondweed (an oxygenating plant), water lilies and pond lilies, which have attractive flowers and provide shade on the pond surface with their leaves, discouraging the growth of algae.

The new conservation area includes a bog garden (which was constructed as part of the overflow from the pond), three nest boxes in trees, and a wild bee house for solitary bees. Junior School pupils have ongoing plans for the pond and would eventually like to put up bat boxes and an owl box, and to build a hide.