Sensory / Memory Garden

We are looking to raise funds for a makeover of our memory/sensory garden that is used by our pupils on daily basis (weather permitting).

The garden consists of shrubs, small trees, grass area and a small pond with about 20 fish that is currently overgrown and in need of some expert help.

The memory part of the garden is dedicated to our pupils who sadly passed away due to their health conditions. We pay tribute to them by adding a leaf to our copper tree with their name once they leave us forever. We also have two benches dedicated to one of our previous head teachers and a student. Our sensory/memory garden may be small but has a huge meaning to the school. It helps our pupils to remember their friends, providing peace, comfort and healing. The garden also helps our pupils with their sensory needs. While in the garden, they are encouraged to touch, smell, taste, and generally interact with the environment around them. The garden allows them to spend time outdoors, breath fresh air helping with their physical health and state of mind. The garden is a place where our children with autism and other sensory processing disorders feel safe and comfortable in exploring their senses without feeling overwhelmed by them.

We however think that our garden currently does not use the whole potential that sensory garden can have and it does not give the ideal balance of sound, smell and visual stimulation. If designed and planned by an expert, it could provide our disadvantaged pupils with so much more than it does at the moment.