Ashbourne News Telegraph

Sprucing up the yard as students plan a green and friendly future

Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School head student NIA VAIKLA talks us through the process of selecting and welcoming a new student council for the Green Road school

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Extra seating areas – consider talking to woodwork about a project

Our new heads of transition­s and inclusion are working hard to help our new Ukrainian students settle into life in QEGS

Clean the tiles – borrow a pressure washer and brush

ON Wednesday, May 11, we four head students were given the opportunit­y to review applicatio­ns, interview, and choose our student council for this upcoming academic year.

Our first meeting was held on Thursday, May 19, and already we have a vast number of great ideas we are all enthusiast­ic about beginning our work on.

Our school and community’s environmen­t are of the utmost importance to us as a council.

Many of our teams, such as the heads of well-being and aesthetics, are planning to work closely with our heads of environmen­t to create an environmen­tally-friendly school, which will benefit Ashbourne and other local areas.

One idea we are excited to start working on is our community garden area. In the sixth form there are courtyards, which have not been used for some time.

Our environmen­t and aesthetics teams are formulatin­g plans to make our courtyards more inviting for students to spend time in.

We are planning to achieve this by allowing students to plant a wide range of flowers in our courtyard, as well as having more seating areas – enabling students to spend time revising and socialisin­g outside.

Additional­ly, our heads of charities are planning to begin working with the Elm Foundation, providing support and education on domestic violence.

The charities team are also hoping to work with our heads of events to create many fundraisin­g opportunit­ies and activities for multiple charities, with our focus being on the Elm Foundation, throughout the year.

Finally, our new heads of transition­s and inclusion are working hard to help our new Ukrainian students settle into life in QEGS sixth form and the town of Ashbourne. To increase student safety and inclusivit­y, an LGBTQ+ group will be set up for students to receive support.

Everyone on the council has expressed vast amounts of interest in both a buddy system and resource packs to help the transition from year 11 to year 12 be comfortabl­e and informativ­e.

 ?? ?? Paint tree planters with bright colours and patterns, eg floral patterns
Remove weeds from stones
Vines and wall climbing plants
Plans by the student council to upgrade their outside space at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School
Paint tree planters with bright colours and patterns, eg floral patterns Remove weeds from stones Vines and wall climbing plants Plans by the student council to upgrade their outside space at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School
 ?? ?? Large raised flowerbeds – seasonal flowers planted
Large raised flowerbeds – seasonal flowers planted
 ?? ?? Courtyards at QEGS’ sixth form centre, off Cokayne Avenue, haven’t been used for some time.
Picture by Robin Macey
Courtyards at QEGS’ sixth form centre, off Cokayne Avenue, haven’t been used for some time. Picture by Robin Macey

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