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On Thursday 19th November, nineteen excited Eastbrook students gathered in Eastbrook Schools’ library eager to begin their Play Your Part day. The overcast was heavy, but the weather was perfect to walk over to the Eastbrookend Country Park. We met our leader Jerome, who was keen on introducing the tasks to our students!
We dropped our bags in the meeting room and began the trek over to the area of the park we’d be working in. Jerome began with an introduction to the different tools we’d be handling throughout the day. He showed us how to walk properly with them, and how to avoid throwing out our backs while raking and digging. Jerome had us split into two groups. Group one would be shovelling the mulch into wheelbarrows and wheeling it over to place on the path. The other half of the group would be patting the mulch down with rakes to make the path easier to walk on.
Jerome walked group two further into the park to pull nettles and make a clear path for visitors. The group were given scissors to cut them shorter and gloves to pull them from the root. We were thankful for long sleeves and gloves as the nettles were stinging! Beth and Maggie worked to rake all the pulled nettles into a neat pile. Sophia was hard at work cutting them down shorter to be pulled! Mike and Joe took off to their own area and created a huge pile of nettles and rubbish they had found.
The students were working brilliantly, after a short fruit break the groups switched tasks. Jess receives a gold star for the day, veering off the path to pull the nettles all by herself. She made a huge pile that contributed to the other teams lot. Lillian had such a good experience, she spoke with Mr.Nathan about doing this type of work more with Eastbrook students as it is so close to them and could really help the park! Mr. Smith, Lily, and Jess made plans to contact Eastbrookend Country Park. Hoping to arrange a day where the Year 9 Eastbrook Students take the Year 7’s to complete similar tasks done for their Play Your Part day.
After lunch, we went for a walk around the park. The students kept quiet as we walked by a few people fishing in the pond. We then climbed a hill that overlooked the park, amazed by all the land!
We ended the day with a huge thank you from Jerome for the help of our Rising Futures Eastbrook students. Students were asked for their comments on the day and all those who spoke out said they believed the day had helped them with their communication and teamwork skills They could all see where their achievements of the day fitted with the skills and competencies within the Talent Toolbox and how they would now feel more confident in ticking these off in their book at their next coaching session. A job very well done by our Year 9 Eastbrook students!
To find out more about how your students could get involved with projects like this, please contact Sophie, Impact Manager: sophie@yesfutures.org, 07908 687779.
**Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals.