School’s tribute to teacher in garden of remembrance
Sanctuary for pupils to take time to reflect
A space for pupils to cope with grief and daily stresses has been unveiled.
Maidstone Girls Grammar School (MGGS) opened The Woodland Garden last week, paying tribute to beloved former maths teacher Susan Rosier. Counsellor at the Buckland Road school, Kerry Green, was inspired to create the green space after helping pupils cope with the death of loved ones.
She said: “Nature can be calming and grounding. In a world that is so busy ‘doing’, this garden can be a space to ‘be’ rather than ‘do’.
“It’s a space to remember a loved one, but also a space to reconnect with nature, with others and with ourselves.
“Here we can reflect on what is important in life in the midst of stress.”
The plot’s full name is The Woodland Garden - Our Space to Remember and Reflect, and it has already proved popular. Pupils have been visiting at lunchtimes and maintenance will be shared between form groups on a monthly basis.
The garden has a bench dedicated to Mrs Rosier, who retired from the school in 1997.
She died shortly afterwards following a battle with illness.
Mrs Rosier’s husband Brian and her daughter Pauline Unwin, a former MGGS pupil, have sponsored the garden’s archway, or ‘Moon Gate’, a rose in her memory and a seat set to be positioned next a cherry tree at the garden’s entrance.
The sanctuary, filled with sculptures designed by pupils, was made possible after donations from the likes of Headstart Kent, MGGS Parents and Friends Association as well as current students and staff.
Mrs Lila Brewer, the MGGS development trust and alumni relations officer said: “It has been wonderful to work with families and see their joy in having their own bench, sculpture or an area of the garden in memory of a loved one.”
The garden has been designed and created by Greenwood Landscapes.
Mrs Green added: “I look forward to using this garden to support students, for example by creating memory stones that can be placed here as part of their counselling, or outside of counselling at a time that is important for them to mark.
“It is great to be able to take our work out of the counselling room into this beautiful space where they can reconnect and reflect.”