Sensory Garden launched at Annagh Hill NS

Children showcased their creativity

Annagh Hill National School officially opened its Sensory Garden with great excitement among pupils and teachers last Friday (June 19).

It features a polytunnel, herb garden, colourful flower patches, a little pond, a willow arch and other plants to help the pupils feel calm and connected to nature.

“The garden has been setup with a joint effort from the whole community, including our pupils, their parents, teachers and school staff,” said Finola Grealish, teacher and project manager for the garden.

“We were funded by the Creative Schools initiative and were paired with an artist Dee Deegan, who helped plan everything.

“We also received a lot of support from the local branch of Ability West. They have a great garden at their facility, so we visited them for some ideas.

“They also came down to help us as much as they could,” she added.

The garden also features a bench commissioned by the Parents’ Association in the memory of late Helen Roche, mother of two pupils at the school, who passed away last year.

The bench was unveiled in the presence of the Roche family, including Galway East TD Pete Roche - Helen’s father-in-law.

“Two of Helen’s sons are still studying in our school, and we wanted to recognise her contribution to our community,” said Ms Grealish.

The garden has been designed and decorated with ideas and artwork created by the pupils, who were helped by Dee Deegan over the past two years.

A Creative Associate with the Arts Council of Ireland in the West, Dee taught the children various arts and activities including photography, clay tile making, portrait making, and about mixed media landscapes.

“I wanted to show them that art doesn’t have to be perfect,” said Ms Deegan.

“I am here to make sure that students’ voices are heard when making a decision on where to spend the funding.

“When I spoke to the children, the love for being outdoors came up as a recurring topic and so we decided to put together a sensory garden, where they can step in and enjoy nature while also learning about it,” she explained.

The pupils were excited to have the garden opened and are looking forward to planting and growing different fruits, vegetables and flowers there.

Fourth-class pupil Ellie O’Donohue told The Tuam Herald that she really enjoyed being part of the development process.

She had fun painting the stones and fairy doors for the garden while she is also looking forward to having some outdoor classes in the polyhouse.

A fifth-class pupil Helen Burke created some clay tiles decorated with flowers.

She said that the garden is “perfect now” and “everyone has put in a lot of hard work” to develop it.

The project was led by Finola Grealish, a special education teacher, and Isabella Flynn, fifth-class teacher, while a lot of the ground works and planting was done by school staff membrer Martin Collins.

“It is a fantastic development which will now go on to serve the pupils for years to come,” said Gerard Greeney, Principal of Annagh Hill NS.

“It is a brilliant facility to have and a great addition to our sensory space called ‘No Trouble Bubble’, which is already loved by the pupils,” he added.