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The Customer
In the Autumn of last year, the team at St Margaret Mary’s Catholic Junior School contacted Pentagon Play for our support in creating a meaningful memorial garden for Olivia Pratt-Korbel.
Olivia Pratt-Korbel was tragically shot and killed in Dovecot in August 2022, when she was just 9 years old.
Creating a memorial garden where her fellow pupils could go and think of her seemed only fitting.
Their Objectives
St Margaret Mary’s were already in discussions regarding a prospective development when the decision was made to create a memorial garden dedicated to Olivia.
Olivia loved music and singing, so creating somewhere where pupils could also sing and dance in her memory was essential.
The important elements were:
- Must include a stage for singing and dancing.
- Seating features would be nice.
- The pupils must be involved in selecting the design in Olivia’s memory.
Our Approach
Outdoor Learning Consultant, Ian Wood, was honoured to be able to help designing this space, and even more honoured when Olivia’s classmates personally selected his design to be installed.
Ian honoured their wish for a stage with the development of a 16m Bespoke Stage where pupils can take drama, p.e and dance lessons, or simply perform during their breaktime.
This space is perfect for keeping Olivia’s memory alive.
Ian also added a range of seating for options for pupils to use when retreating to the memorial garden.
Ian implemented a Bespoke Rainbow Bench, Four Seat Planter Bench and 6 Small Moveable Artificial Grass-Topped Seats and 4 Perch Benches, where pupils can sit, socialise, and remember Olivia.
To create a musical space in keeping with the idea of singing, dancing and performing, Ian also added 4 Drum Seats, a Musical Triad and Major Pentatonic Chimes for the pupils to make beautiful music on.
Finally, to add to the calming, relaxing, sensory aspect of the space, Ian had a Red and Blue Sensory Tunnel and a Nature Arbour installed.
Sensory items are often used by children to instil some calm, with the bright colours soothing them when the light shines through and creates beautiful patterns and reflections.
The entrance to the space reads ‘Olivia’s Stage’ and the stage itself has an engraving which reads ‘"Reaching out, hand in hand, together kindness shines’, chosen by Olivia’s mother.
The Results
The new memorial garden looks incredible in the grounds of St Margaret Mary’s Catholic Junior School, and we were honoured to be a part of it.
The team at the school were very pleased with it.
“I just wanted to thank you for all your support with our Performance Area. We really appreciate everything that you have done for us and especially delivering it on time to us. It is stunning!”
“I don’t think we could have picked anything better because she did love to perform. It’s nice for Cheryl too because she has a special little girl and we don’t want to forget her”- Rebecca Wilkinson, Headteacher of St Margaret Mary’s Catholic Junior School (ITV News).
