New Sensory Garden at St Mary’s PS

A new Sensory Garden has been opened at a Saintfield school thanks to Lottery funding. The Parents’ Association of St Mary’s Primary School secured an award of £9950 which has been used to create a wonderful new garden which opened on Sunday 12th May.

The garden was the idea of parent Joanne Chong-Kwan who suggested an area embracing fun, story telling, growing food and learning through observation – an outdoor classroom when the weather is good.

At the ceremony the garden was blessed and opened by Fr Anthony McHugh PP before pupils performed music and then joined governors, teachers and parents for a walk around the new learning environment. Acting Principal Anne Reid thanked everyone who helped to create the garden and paid tribute to Terry Winchcombe, the landscape gardener who brought the children’s ideas to life.  She said: “ During the years to come our children’s education will be enhanced by this beautiful resource and we will watch the development of our children in this appealing environment.”

With raised flowerbeds, seating, an underground tunnel, colourful murals and a story telling chair, it is intended to be a tranquil area to grow vegetables and to monitor seasonal change. Mrs Chong-Kwan said that it was fantastic to see the excitement of the children and the fruits of everyone’s hard work.