WHAT had been an untidy area at Tedburn St Mary Primary School, where there had once been a greenhouse, a space that was not useful, has been transformed thanks to the work of students from an Alternative Provision Academy.

Funded by the school PTA, FoTSMS - Friends of Tedburn St Mary School - there is now a superb open-fronted potting shed, shelving and a solid display stand made of wood for the school’s Garden Club.

The young people who did the work were from Central Devon Academy, an Alternative Provision Academy catering for students who often have had a fragmented education, part of the Stansfield Centre in Exeter.

They can be aged four to 16 years. from an area that includes Exeter, East Devon and Mid Devon, working with Devon County Council supporting learners and including practical subjects as well as the basics. Older students have access to the reformed 14-19 years curriculum.

At Tedburn they were working with the Academy’s Construction Instructor Wayne Stewart who explained that this was part of their construction lessons. A budding brick layer and carpenter were two of the students.

This used to be PRU, People Referral Unit for those who have had a disrupted education.

School head at Tedburn Andy Keay explained that what had been achieved at Tedburn had come about this year through a parent.

“Our greenhouse was falling apart and we needed a space our Garden Club could use plus other uses, so we decided to clear that area and, with funding from FoTSMS, the students built the potting shed for us.

“Looking for something else that would also involve our children, we were going to replace seating and decking outside and we then wondered about an outdoor classroom.”

Mr Keay added that where the potting shed is now was “a rubbish place” that the school had been wondering how to improve it. “This came along and everything fell into place,” he said.

Wayne Stewart explained that as part of their Construction Programme at the Central Devon Academy they had been looking for a project where students could use skills they had been learning in the workshop.

Ideally this would embrace as many aspects of the construction industry as they could, allowing the students to learn as many skills as they could before leaving school and maybe gaining a job or further education in the industry. A member of staff at Stansfield had mentioned that he had a child at Tedburn St Mary Primary school and that they were looking to build a potting shed to enhance their gardening lessons.

Wayne said: “The school was not too far from Exeter and provided us with an ideal start we would need, we had found the perfect candidate for our first project!

“We discussed plans for the potting shed with Mr Keay, the potential ideas we had and the students soon came up with a design. We went to a local supplier for the timber and came up with a price for the materials and with the assistance of Pat from the school administration we soon gained a further 20 per cent discount!

“So with willing students, a fantastic location with the ideal project we were ready to go.

“Work started early in the January term, as the students’ timetables allowed, we would take the 20 minute journey out there two or three times a week.

“Work started at a blistering pace, we soon got the outline of a structure up. No more than a few weeks later and with the hard work of the students we had the roof on and, at last, we were able to work in the dry.

“We blocked up the back of the structure, created a large blackboard for the primary pupils to use during their gardening lessons, built benches along one side and a simple potting bench that we built in the workshop and took to the school,” Wayne said.

By early April and with a few other little jobs to finish off they had completed their first project! Wayne added that the students involved showed great dedication and effort towards the project and can be proud of what they achieved.

He went on: “We delivered a new potting shed to Tedburn Primary school and hope that they have many years happy use out of it.

“Building on the success of our project, Tedburn school has asked us to build them a new outdoor classroom. Are Stansfield up to the challenge? Of course we are, plans already decided, materials on site and project started with some heavy lifting on April 26 this year. Look out for future developments!”

Sue Read