King’s Ely Sixth Formers get their hands dirty in support of local primary school

Community-spirited King’s Ely Sixth Form students used some of their spare time to help with the creation of a new eco-garden at Isle of Ely Primary School.

Thirteen Sixth Formers were part of a green-fingered team from King’s Ely who removed a huge area of weeds and prepared the soil ready for Isle of Ely Primary School pupils and staff to start planting their new garden.

The Sixth Form students were accompanied by Chris Youngs and Will Temple, who are members of the King’s Ely Garden and Grounds Team; Jane Halls, Sixth Form Supervisor at King’s Ely; and Celia Etchegoyen, King’s Ely’s Director of Outreach.

Annie Hunter, Outdoor Education and Science Lead at Isle of Ely Primary School, said: “We have put a big push into revamping our environmental garden here at Isle of Ely Primary School recently. It had run a bit wild so taming it has been a big challenge for our little hands! When we were told about volunteers from King's Ely offering to help, we were delighted that other members of our community could also join in making our school more eco-friendly. They cleared a huge area of well-established weeds, which will make way for tyre beds filled with berry bushes for autumnal harvests. Thank you so much to the volunteering team at King's Ely, we would love you to come back and try our berry jams next year!”

The volunteering was organised under the umbrella of the Cambridgeshire Educational Partnership, of which both King’s Ely and Isle of Ely Primary School are members. The partnership was launched in May this year to bring together school headteachers, education professionals and young people from across Cambridgeshire.

Its aim is to work together for the mutual benefit of all pupils, in both independent and state schools, and to provide opportunities for students from schools within the partnership to gain access to a variety of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), MFL (Modern Foreign Languages), Arts, Sport and Enrichment activities.

The partnership also aims to create opportunities for collaboration and dissemination of good practice within the teaching community, to develop, support and retain the best teachers in our schools, and to raise the aspirations and accelerate the progress of our young people.

To find out more about the Cambridgeshire Educational Partnership, please contact Celia Etchegoyen by emailing CeliaEtchegoyen@kingsely.org