Welford and Wickham host international Erasmus visitors who open the school's new garden

Teachers from around Europe visited a village primary school and opened its new garden as part of an international Erasmus project.

Welford and Wickham CE and Stockcross CE Primary Schools hosted 19 visitors from Turkey, Lithuania, Romania and Greece for a week with the time being focused on having a better attitude towards the environment.

As well as opening the school’s new garden on Wednesday, May 18, the group also visited Highclere Castle, the historic town of Bath, and enjoyed a traditional British afternoon tea during a school baking class.

A post on the Friends of Welford and Wickham Primary School Facebook page said: “We would like to thank all the staff and pupils who made the trip such a success and all the venues who hosted us through the week.”

Erasmus projects aim to help teachers learn different techniques and methods in the classroom by connecting them with other educators across the continent.

Although Welford and Wickham’s project has been a virtual one over the past two years, it has meant students have been able to get involved which normally isn’t the case.

Pupils have taken part in other school’s lessons over video conferencing software, and have been treated to school tours as well.

The main focus of the Erasmus project is learning about how to cleverly consume energy, food, water, waste and other resources to help the environment. The new garden was a key part of that.

What used to be an unused and unloved area of grass in front of Welford and Wickham’s playground has been transformed into a beautiful natural space with both educational and wellbeing benefits.

The garden has seed beds and planting areas for each class to use so pupils can take part in weeding, planting and looking after the things they grow. The school also has certain students that are responsible for watering the plants each day.

Welford and Wickham has also been teaching its students how to save energy, which is something headteacher Lynne Valentine was proud to say they have taken on board.

She said: “We need to save energy and make our students more aware of looking after the planet.

“They have already learnt a lot through the project. Often they’re the ones who say ‘Oh, you’ve left your whiteboard on’ or ‘You’ve left the lights on’ and they tell us to turn them off.”

Parent volunteers, staff, their families and pupils all came together to create the school’s new interactive green space.

A lot of the money used to fund the garden project was raised by Lara Wilson last year in a walking fundraiser she did for the school.

Nine-year-old Lara, from Boxford, walked 50km in the countryside around her home last February and raised £1,135 for Welford and Wickham.

Lara’s father Steve Wilson said at the time: “We're just amazed at the level of support from friends, family and the local community.

"Originally, the target was only £150, but actually, now, it's gone soaring over £1,000, which is quite incredible.”

You can read more about her fundraiser here.