Learning beyond the classroom is an option again

A group of 18 bank volunteers took time away from the office to carry out a clean-up and revamp of an outdoor learning space at Greenleys Junior School. This included cutting back bramble and bushes, digging up roots and relaying a bark path.

Now that the outdoor area is accessible and serviceable, pupils will once again be able to benefit from the space by learning about wildlife and ecosystems in a way that extends beyond theory in the classroom.

Year 5 teacher and outdoor classroom lead Louise Quinn said: “The Santander team worked tirelessly and enthusiastically throughout the day to restore the woodland. Without their hard work we would never have been able to achieve such fantastic results. We are now on track to use the space for all sorts of curriculum activities and one goal is to plant bulbs over the next few weeks so that the children can see them flower in spring. We are so grateful to the team for coming to our school, they did a fantastic job and we will hopefully see them again.”

Abbie Austin, Finance and Investment Appraisal Manager at Santander in Milton Keynes, said: “It was really rewarding to see what a day of teamwork could do for the school; it was good not only for the school to get something from our visit but was also great for us as a team to work together collaboratively. I think that the before and after photos are testament to our hard work and it was really nice to hear that they’d want us back in the future.”