A NEW garden is giving school a breath of fresh air for a group of students at Lawn Manor Academy.

Rebecca Smith, 34, has worked at the school for two years and hit on the idea of taking on an unused plot of land at the school in Salcombe Grove as an opportunity to teach the pupils about their environment and get them out of the classroom.

She said: “They’re students that need hands on learning - more peace and quiet learning.

But it was a challenge. The Year 8 garden was badly overgrown and in a mess.

“Our first challenge was that the whole garden was covered in stinging nettles and weeds," she told the Advertiser.

“So I contacted local gardener Anthony Doherty from Ruby's Home & Garden Maintenance in Swindon and asked him to donate some of his time and he agreed.

“He came to the school with his strimmer and one of his employees and spent hours just weeding - strimming it all back for us. We’ve just got a much nicer garden area now.”

Not just a pretty addition to the school, the garden is now part of the classroom.

She added: “It’s just a nicer way to get a lot of talking going on, lots of vocabulary and just kind of hands on learning.

“Also we wanted to attract more bees into the garden so we’ve done a lot of research," she said.

“At the moment we’re making bug hotels. We’re making lessons a lot easier for them. For instance, we are tying that in with maths so they can measure the wood.”