St Boswells Primary School Green Space Project
St Boswells Primary School Parents & Friends Partnership led on this exciting project to support the school’s volunteer-led Eco Group, with a grant from Destination Tweed’s Community Grants Scheme.
The play area at St Boswells Primary School serves as a hub for play and nature connection both in and out of school hours. It has been evolving in recent years with the placement of a community orchard, a wild meadow and the development of play equipment using wood felled in the local woodland by Storm Arwen.
This project aimed to improve the outdoor environment within the school grounds, and provide new resources to enhance learning opportunities, and allow children and the community to connect with their natural environment.
St Boswells Primary school has an Eco Team who are involved in gardening and eco-friendly projects. A regular Tuesday afternoon slot at the end of the school day allowed the Eco Team (or Eco Warriors, as they have elected to call themselves) to work through a variety of projects and develop a fabulous school garden this year and increase the biodiversity of the wider green space.
With the arrival of new equipment early in 2025, The Eco Team set to work digging new beds, filling existing beds, and beginning preparatory work that would reap benefits in the spring. The children, and the now growing number of adult volunteers involved, learned about the different types of tools and how they are used, and also how to clean and store them to keep them in top condition. Knowledge and skill progressed through the academic year, children showed their peers who to use the tools, and they can now be reliably asked to fetch a specific tool from the shed and know exactly what to collect. As the year went on and plant recognition skills continued to grow, the Eco Warriors were able to work through weeding and planting tasks independently.
The Eco Warriors were keen to plant vegetables. To increase pollination, they created a potager garden whereby vegetables were planted alongside flowers with a focus on native plants and interesting high cropping vegetables. Crops included Courgettes, Tomatoes, Khol rabi, Chard and a whole host of fragrant herbs used for the sensory area. Together, children and volunteers from the community group “Green St Boswells”, planted over 200 bulbs for spring colour.
Knowledge of the Eco Team’s work spread throughout the school with more children joining the Eco Warrior team, and interest from parents increased too. In addition, The Eco Team have been nominated as part of a wider local network of green projects for a Greener Gateway award and, as part of the same network, were awarded a Keep Scotland Beautiful Certificate of Distinction.
In consultation with Aberlour Children’s Charity, which operates nearby, the project enabled the purchase of adapted gardening tools and sensory elements which enhance the space for children with a range of needs.
Volunteers from the Parents & Friends Group have worked with staff at Aberlour to introduce them to the garden space and the resources available, to ensure that they feel confident using the space too.
Total project costs: £1289.94
Grant awarded: £1289.94 (100% of total costs)
Over 50 hours volunteers time contributed during delivery of this project
Over 200 bulbs planted
Core team of 12 self-styled ‘Eco Warriors’
“Absolutely brilliant Team. Amazing results” – Local Community Group
“[My child] has gained so much and really enjoyed being part of the team” – Parent
“Thank you so much, the school yard looks great” – Grandparent
“Thank you! [My child] has really enjoyed being part of Eco Warriors. We’ve heard so much about it all. Really appreciate all your work.” – Parent
“Fantastic work going on in our school community” – Teacher
Feedback from wider community
The Community Grants Scheme was made possible by funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund Scotland.
Find out more about Destination Tweed’s Community Grants Scheme