"It is often not what you know, but who you know."

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Today we arrived at the school feeling refreshed and hopeful knowing that the benches and tepee were being delivered.

We arrived in great time as the delivery van containing the benches pulled up to the school just as we did. We were excited to see a rather large truck and were looking forward to our ready-made benches to arrive so we could finish off the outdoor classroom. As the delivery man opened up the back of the lorry we peered in with anticipation to see what our benches looked like. To our surprise, they were not ready made but flat packed! However, we helped the delivery man offload our benches and signed the paperwork. Once he had gone we looked at each other puzzled. We had no tools or experience in putting benches together, but of course we were up to the challenge.

So we headed out to our favourite shop, Bunnings, to arm ourselves with tools to support us in attempting to put the benches together. We looked at the instructions to check the tools that we needed to ensure we purchased the correct tools so money was not wasted. We then headed to the garden centre to purchase the flowers that would go into our tyre beds. We had done some prior research to ensure that we bought flowers that would last throughout the year so the area always looked bright and colourful no matter the season. We also looked at different flowers that are calming such as lavender to place around the tepee – the relaxation area to support children in relaxing and calming down.

We thoroughly enjoyed walking around the garden centre and picking flowers, making sure they were colourful so we could brighten up the area. Alongside flowers, we also wanted to create a small area for a herb garden. We felt this would be nice as the children cook their own food so it would beneficial to them to grow their own herbs to use within this cooking. We then loaded these in the back of Josie’s car and headed back to the school.

When we arrived back at the school, we set up the tyres in the outdoor classroom section. Ben and Steve then loaded the tyres up with soil, whilst Josie arranged the flowers and planted these within the beds. We were very happy with how these looked and they really brighten up the space.

We then turned to the benches. We unpacked each pack and placed the pieces out so we could see what we had got. Josie then read the instructions whilst Ben and Steve tried to put the pieces together. We worked solidly for almost an hour to no avail, we could not put up the benches with the small screw drivers that we had purchased earlier. We even borrowed an electric screwdriver from Bob, the caretaker, but even this did not help us in putting the benches together. We looked at each other in with anguish, how on earth would we put these benches together?

Josie then explained that her dad (who was bringing down the tepee he had made for us today) would have plenty of tools and would be willing to help us when he arrived.

So, we decided to stop for lunch whilst we waiting for him to arrive. We were extremely excited for Josie’s dad to arrive with the tepee that he had very kindly offered to build for us. We decided to ask him to help with this due to his background in carpentry, which we did not have.

When Josie’s dad arrived, we were amazed at how great the tepee looked, and it hadn’t even been put together yet! Josie’s dad had also bought her brother (Toby) along with him and we were so glad he did. Whilst Josie’s dad put the tepee together, her brother very kindly used his own tools to help us put the benches together. Toby, Ben and Steve then worked together to put the benches together, which was now much easier with the proper tools.

We were so grateful for their help as without them the benches would never have been put together and we would not have such an amazing tepee.

When it was all finished, we took a step back and were in awe of how the garden was looking. The outdoor classroom now had two lovely benches for the children to use throughout the year during lessons and in break and lunch times. We were so happy about this, as before the children had nowhere to sit and enjoy the outdoors, so this was something we wanted to provide them with.

We then looked to the left to see the tepee for the children to use as a relaxation and reading area throughout the year. The tepee was designed so there are gaps at the bottom so it is clear to the teachers if anyone is in the tepee. It also included a bench on the back wall for the children to sit on when they visit the tepee. The tepee has also been secured fully to the ground to ensure it is safe and secure for when the children make use of it.

We now only need to add the finishing touches tomorrow to finish off the outdoor area and make it perfect for when the children return to school on Monday.

We are so happy with how the garden has come along and so grateful for the help that we received today. As the day unfolded we felt slightly defeated when we could not put up the benches. But as we looked across at what had been achieved, we remembered that it is important to not be afraid to ask for help when it is needed, and to use the strengths of others for support when tackiling a problem. This is a lesson that we will take forward throughout our careers and ensure that when teaching, we ask for help when needed to ensure we can become the best teachers that we can be.