D.S. Enviromental Partnership

March 2003

After a long struggle and various changes of plan over the last few years the derelict building in the school nature reserve now has been transformed into a fantastic new space. In the autumn of 2000 a group of committed teachers and admin staff spent time after school in the centre, clearing out a huge amount of junk that had accumulated over the last ten years. The building was in a very poor state of repair, just walls and a roof. Over the following 18 months the centre began to take shape with pupils becoming involved with further cleaning and painting, but we still needed things like doors, windows and electrics, to name but a few.

Jarvis, as you know, are now responsible for the maintenance of the Stringer site and the big school development project being undertaken at the moment. As part of the development they have had to remove a large number of trees from the School Nature Reserve. By way of a mitigation package, Jarvis have over the last 6 weeks performed an incredible make over on our building. So two and a half years later, we now have the fully functional building we have been striving for. It has to be said we would not be in this position if it were not for Jarvis and the dedicated support of Trevor Allen, Ros Stephens and the other members of the buildings committee.

But of course this is only the beginning. We now need to turn this shell into a fully functioning Environmental Education Centre. The list of things to do is never ending but we will get there! We need to sort out furniture and storage areas within the building. We will be recycling some of the redundant computers from the new computer rooms. Then there are the fun things Solar panels for the roof, and small wind turbine and a water recycling facility. The new kitchen area will have energy saving facilities and we hope to insulate the walls and roof with sustainable materials. Of course this all costs money and applying for grants is a full time job in itself.

Jarvis, as you know, are now responsible for the maintenance of the Stringer site and the big school development project being undertaken at the moment. As part of the development they have had to remove a large number of trees from the School Nature Reserve. By way of a mitigation package, Jarvis have over the last 6 weeks performed an incredible make over on our building. So two and a half years later, we now have the fully functional building we have been striving for. It has to be said we would not be in this position if it were not for Jarvis and the dedicated support of Trevor Allen, Ros Stephens and the other members of the buildings committee.

Why Call it the Brian Foster Environment Centre?

Good question, but the answer is easy, read on! Brian was a lovely, caring, supportive friend, teacher and family man, as well as being mad on rugby. During his long career at Stringer, as a science teacher and senior member of staff, Brian was especially supportive of Dolawen and all environmental activities.

Brian would have been so pleased and proud to see the centre full of people, young and old, celebrating the opening of the centre and the many achievements of the Ecology and Environment group. I knew and worked with Brian for many years and have worked on many of the environmental projects undertaken by the school. Therefore it was a privilege, with Trevor Allen and Ann Foster, to help with the opening ceremony and also to look forward to future celebrations and successes.

May 2005

As the Brian Foster Environment Centre was up and running we felt it was only right to have a formal opening. So for three weeks members of the Eco club worked hard to make the centre look amazing for its opening day. Among the guests were Mr Allen, Mr Foster’s Family, Local council officials, parents, members of the Eco Club, Dorothy Stringer staff and other friends.

Over the last two years we have received so much help from different people and this day made us reflect on the contributions that individuals make, which was appropriate really because we intended to use this event as a memorial to two dedicated men, who had been teachers at Stringer. Mr Brian Foster was an assistant head who had done a great deal for our school and tragically died from cancer in 2003. Mr Richard Lewis was a physics teacher at the school for many years until his death in 1998. Both teachers are commemorated with memorial stones which are placed at the western end of the Environment Centre.

On the day our guests started to arrive at about 10:30hrs. There were a range of different displays; the reuse before recycle note pads, the organic growers, the equipment we have been donated. We had people showing off the insects that we have and offering the guests the opportunity to hold them. We had on display all of the awards we have received. One of these was the Green Flag which is a prestigious award given to the top schools in the country for their outstanding environmental work. We also had food and drink for our guests to enjoy as they went round the building.

At 11:15hrs the speeches began. Firstly Mr Allen and Miss Middleton gave brief speeches and finally they handed it over to Mrs Foster who told us all about how Mr Foster had loved his work and how happy he would have been with all the new improvements to the school. It was a moving speech and we all felt very proud to name our centre after such a great man. We had a wonderful day and now we look forward to working in the Brian Foster Environment Centre. The adventure has just begun.

January 2005

On 14 October, the Eco Club had its first Open Evening in the Environment Centre, as part of the visit to school by new parents and children. There were loads of things on display to show what the Eco Club is all about, like insects, recycled notepads, a video and photos about the trips, the club's own home-grown vegetables, butterflies and moth wings under the microscope, drawings by students, and copies of the previous Green Pages.

Loads of people came, they really enjoyed the Open Evening, and everyone loved the invertebrates including Giant African Land Snails, Stick insects, two types of caterpillars and cockroaches, but the favourite was a very small stick insect named Bob! I took part in this Open Evening, because I’m a member of the Eco club and it seemed like a good idea to show new Stringer students what we do and encourage them to join! I think it was really good fun and if anyone joins the Eco Club before next years’ Open Evening, you should definitely take part. I would really recommend it!

December 2005

The Brian Foster Environment Centre is getting a face lift! There are new curtains at the windows. The curtains are a two-year project headed by Rose Miller (10WHI). Together with several groups of Year 7 pupils, she has printed the fabric with leaves of ivy and British trees in three colours. During form time and at after-school Textiles club, she has single-handedly sewn the first four pairs of curtains which are now hanging in the Brian Foster Environment Centre. The rest will swiftly follow and enable the centre to be used in the evenings and for films or videos. It is not surprising that Rose is taking Textiles at GCSE level. Congratulations and thanks to Rose for a huge job beautifully done.

The Educational Pond

In October 2004, I was delighted to be involved in the construction, coordination and design of the Brian Foster Environment Centre wildlife pond. Ten years previously I had volunteered to help with the installation of a very large pond at the Gilbert White Museum in Selbourne and since then I have built many wildlife ponds.

The daunting prospect of working on the Stringer pond was that the designated area was small and on a nasty slope. After finalising the design, and whilst waiting for the school’s approval, I contacted contractors for the excavation work, the fencing and the concrete. It’s amazing that over half the businesses I phoned for quotes never responded, so I ended up with the selected JCB digger and the fencing men because they actually answered the phone! Of course, they provided sensible estimates, were very friendly and never patronising.

The hole was dug successfully, thanks to extra manual help from Brighton Conservation Volunteers and the Sussex Downs Volunteer Rangers. No Roman mosaics or old bombs were found under the soil. The fence was erected and then it was time to organise the lining process, which had to be done in one day. Volunteers from all over the school were alerted in early May, as 6 tons of concrete had to be shifted in 2 hours. If we didn't have enough pairs of hands it might all have ended in disaster and so we were dependent on a lot of peoples good will.

The carpet was laid first and the date was fixed for the lining. As I lay in bed the previous night before lining day, I kept wondering if I had measured the area correctly? Would the lining fit? And, worst of all, could the helpers (how many will turn up?) shift the concrete before it sets?

An engineer friend had just calculated that it would take one bucketful of cement every 10 seconds to complete the job in 2 hours, before the concrete set! Anyway, some of us keen ones arrived at the school at 8am on May 20th, and adrenalin flowed as we placed various liners in the pond. Then, 2 hours later, we anticipated the cement lorry. It was an hour late, which gave the steadily rising number of helpers time to have a practice. “Hurry up, the volunteers may want to leave early to watch the cup final!”

Over 60 people formed a circular chain, starting with shovelling concrete into buckets, heaving the wet mixture down the line, some slopping it into the pond and others returning the empties back the diminishing pile of cement, trying to refit the loose bucket handles. Wow, what a wonderful feat of enthusiasm from everyone. With the 2 hours up, the last bucket arrived and was ceremoniously plonked in the pond, just in time for a welcome barbeque. A few weeks later, sub-soil was put in the pond and the decking was very expertly constructed, thanks to John Miller and a few regular excellent volunteers. The final ingredient – water – was added and then a few establishing plants and pond snails.

Building Furniture for the Pond Area

Teaching Design and Technology is a constant struggle to find opportunities for pupils to get involved in real projects with real customers and a proper budget for materials. Earlier this year we were approached to see if we were interested in helping install tables and benches by the newly created pond. We leapt at the chance as an excellent project for the current Year 10 class. Initially we visited the site and met the customers. After, the group worked to produce a variety of design proposals before presenting these back to the customer. We also researched possible sources of sustainable or otherwise environmentally friendly sources of timber. In the end, we chose a simple design with curves to reflect the shape of the pond and the natural environment. The timber was sourced from the Recycled Wood Store here in Brighton. As I write, the pupils are making the table legs and stretchers that will support the tops. Next week we hope to produce the first complete table! This project has created a great amount of enthusiasm within the group, it has allowed us to work on a scale that is normally out of reach of our meager budgets and we hope that we will have some very satisfied customers.