Home to roost at last

Sarah Rees reports from the Oakalls and Parklands . . .

The long-awaited new duck house for the balancing pond on The Oakalls is finally in place, thanks to a collaboration between St Bede’s School in Redditch and Bromsgrove District Council’s Leisure and Cultural Services.

The project to replace the old, damaged duck house began in December 2014 when a group of students from St Bede’s volunteered to design and build a new one as part of an extra-curricular technology assignment, supervised by Luke Twigg, Head of Technology.

Following extensive research, the children drew plans for approval by the council. They then visited the B&Q store in Redditch to identify and cost the materials they needed. Construction began in June and was completed towards the end of October.

Once the duck house had been floated on the balancing pond, Mr Twigg and four members of the build team met with Coun Caroline Spencer to see their efforts in situ.

“It was a great project to work on,” said Year 8 student Jamie Thomas. “On the ramp which leads to the door of the duck house we engraved a message which states that it was made by pupils from St Bede’s – this lettering also offers grip for the ducks to get in!”

Luke Twigg commented: “This was a wonderful project for the students because there were many issues for them to consider beyond the build process itself, including buoyancy aids and how best to stabilise the floating platform.”

He continued: “The project also helped the children to realise that technology has a real place in their living environment rather than it being an abstract notion taught only in schools.”

The duck house has been constructed in such a way that sections can be easily replaced should part of the house become damaged.

The students who took part in the project through to its conclusion were Liam Oakland, Jamie Thomas, Dylan Rees, Daniel Beardshaw, Rhiannon Finn and Ruth Dolan.

Pictured: Jamie Thomas, Daniel Beardshaw, Luke Twigg, Coun Caroline Spencer, Dylan Rees and Liam Oakland.

INCIDENT ON BROMSGROVE HIGHWAY
Police closed the Redditch-bound Bromsgrove Highway on Wednesday December 2 after reports of a blue Mercedes C-Class travelling the wrong way down the carriageway. This affected the flow of traffic on the Slideslow roundabout for about an hour.

It is believed the incident happened when the driver had a medical episode at the wheel. He was taken to the Alexandra Hospital for further treatment. Fortunately no one was injured in the incident.

FINAL LIGHT-UP IN FINSTALL
This year will see the last-ever annual Christmas light extravaganza hosted by a Finstall couple – click here for the full story.