CHILDREN at Lawn Primary School will be able to keep a close watch on nature next term with their new dipping pond.

Teacher Luisa Henstridge said the idea was hatched last spring but took a while to come to fruition.

It was helped when the Friends of Lawn PTA won a £3000 community grant from TE Connectivity Ltd based in Dorcan.

“We had a large wasteland area attached to the school which had become really overgrown,” she told the Advertiser.

So the school got together with local builder Blaine Hall and devised a plan for a new pond that would form part of a wildlife area.

She explained the school’s old pond was small and in an unsafe area. “This has trebled in size the area that the children can use. We can take two classes at one time. It is a fantastic opportunity.”

Building work finished last autumn but it took a while before wildlife started moving in. Then, in very early spring, pond skaters appeared heralding the arrival of other species.

Now the school is working on encouraging more creatures to make their home in the area surrounding the pond.

“We’re hoping to buy lots of bird tables and feeders to attract different species of birds,” she said.

The youngsters have also been honing their gardening skills by growing produce and holding farmers markets as a way of learning real-life enterprise and maths skills.

Their last one raised £511 which will be used to buy the feeders and for other projects.