Team work (noun): co-operative or combined effort of a group of persons working together as a team f

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The groups aim for today was to collect the benches we had ordered from Travis Perkins and work together to assemble these and place them in the outdoor classroom area.

Josie and Stephen met Alice at Travis Perkins in Southampton and were very happy to see her arrive in a van to help transport the benches. We went into Travis Perkins and one of the workmen showed us round to the loading bay where he thought the benches were situated. As we pulled up to the loading bay, we were slightly worried about the concerned look on the workman’s face as he looked down at the bench. He explained that he could only see one but loaded it into the van and then he went off to find the other bench. We waited for a while and were then greeted by the original workman and the foreman of the site. He then explained that the other bench had already been assembled (last year) so would not fit in the van. He then continued to explain how the one already loaded in the van had a piece missing. We all looked at each other in shock and were quite frustrated that we had been able to order and pay for two benches when the shop did not have them. However, we remained calm and decided to unload the bench and go through the instructions to see what part was missing and if there was any way we could replace this with another part. We found that nothing was missing, however, one of the beams was broken. We then had to decide on what to do and whether to take the benches. We discussed this as a three and decided that the safety of the children was paramount and we did not want to deliver a bench that had broken parts. We also had no way of transporting the already assembled bench down to the school, as the company did not deliver that far. We were also concerned about how this bench had been outside since last summer.

We asked the foreman if he could contact other local branches to see if they had any available, they did not. Therefore, we had to make the decision to leave the benches and get a refund as we wanted to provide the best possible resources for the children to use.

We were back to having no benches and no idea where to source some from for the same good price that we had bought the previous ones for. So, like with every other problem we have faced, we headed for lunch to clear our heads and re-think. We searched the internet and found very similar benches to what we had decided on as a group, for an even cheaper price than the original benches! However, before ordering we had to ensure they would be delivered before our Friday deadline so they would be there for the children when they return after Easter. The seller confirmed that they would be delivered so we went ahead and purchased the benches.

We then sat and thought about what we could do next to ensure that the day was not wasted. The three of us then decided that we would make use of having access to a van and transport the tyres from Stephens house and take them over to the school.

So, we headed over to Stephens house and loaded the tyres into the van. We worked well as team here, with Stephen emptying the tyres of water and passing them to Josie, who then rolled them through the house to Alice who then loaded them into the van. It took two trips to transport the tyres and we’re all very happy that they are there now so we can create the tyre wall once the tepee has been assembled.

We then felt that we still had no accomplished much and did not want to waste the day, so we headed to the garden centre to purchase the soil needed to fill the planters and tyres. We popped to the first garden centre and were extremely happy to see that there was a closing down sale. So, we purchased a bucket and filled this with hand tools and seeds for the children to then use to plant the seeds when they return back to school. We then headed to another garden centre to buy the soil. We decided to buy it from here due to a deal they had on as we are trying to use our donations wisely. When deciding on how much soil to buy, we had different ideas on how much we needed. So as a group we compromised and bought nine bags of soil. We then loaded these into the van and headed to the school. Once unloaded, we worked together to carry the bags to the planters, open them and spread the soil evenly to fill the planters. We were very shocked to see how much soil was needed to fill these so had to make another trip to the garden centre so we could fill the second planter. We then bought twelve more bags so we would have enough to fill the planters and tyres.

Both planters are now filled and are looking great in the allotment area of the garden!

We have planned to give ourselves Tuesday off ready for the arrival of the benches and tepee on Wednesday.

On Wednesday we hope to complete the outdoor classroom if the benches arrive on time and hope to assemble the tyre wall once the tepee has been built. We will then only need to make the finishing touches ready for the children to return on Monday.

We all feel that we are working really well as a team and all taking on various roles to ensure the project is completed to the best possible standard. Although some of us have clear strengths, we are all working together and trying our best to get involved with all aspects of the project.