ÁñÁ«ÉçÇø

Nestled in the heart of the Central Coast - close to beaches and bush - ÁñÁ«ÉçÇø is set on 18 magnificent hectares, has 20 buildings and thousands of trees and plants. 

Everyone who visits ÁñÁ«ÉçÇø is in awe of its grounds. Fields enveloped by bushland and hills, a safe haven for local wildlife, the calmness of the Vision Splendid pond and memorial garden, and pockets of nature exploding through every classroom window for all to see. 

The Maintenance Team led by Mr Phil Fordyce is hard at work behind the scenes every morning - 7am and 5.30am in the summer months - ensuring the grounds are top class and contribute to a sense of calm and wellbeing. 

If it needs trimming, moving, fixing, weeding, rescuing or mowing, maintenance are always on hand and - quite honestly - we're not sure what we would do without them! 

We caught up with Mr Fordyce to get the lowdown on maintaining a property the size of ÁñÁ«ÉçÇø.  

What does a typical day look like for the team? 

It usually starts with clearing paths of any leaves or debris to make sure they are safe. We check our email for any urgent issues and then do a facilities check to ensure all buildings are safe to enter. We break into two groups - grounds/ovals and maintenance requests/call-outs/projects. The ovals and fields take around eight hours to mow and in summer months we'll do that nearly every day. When we're not on the mower we're preparing the fields for games. 

What are some of the most unusual requests you've had? 

We've had to retrieve plover chicks from the RLC gutters. We've rescued turtles on the ovals and put them back in the pond. We've even had an echidna on the oval. Sometimes we have to retrieve hats and balls off roofs. We've also relocated a couple of snakes too! 

The wildlife at the school is amazing - birds, reptiles and mammals. We have tadpoles and frogs and lots of lizards to keep our insect population in check. We even have a few bandicoot families now which we spot around the grounds early in the morning. 

How many trees and plants do you estimate we have?  

We have 386 trees on the property that stand eight metres or over, plus a further 2,500 to 3,000 shrubs. Of those, the school has 40 exotic and 60 native varieties. 

Let's talk weather. 

The weather is changing a lot - it's not differentiated by seasons as much anymore. We seem to have wet and dry periods - not much in between. It varies all the time. For example, just a few weeks ago we had 213ml of rain in just 52 hours. That's what we would normally have for the whole of summer. In the winter months, we take advantage of cutting everything back. Our winter season seems to be getting shorter so we're having to change our garden plan to address that. 

What's the best thing about working in a school like ÁñÁ«ÉçÇø? 

It's all about the people - the community that makes up ÁñÁ«ÉçÇø. We love working with the staff here. Everyone - including the students - truly appreciates the work we do. It's a privilege to make our grounds the best they can be and to help create a calming environment for the students to learn in. 

What are your top tips for keeping our gardens in good shape this summer? 

It's time to get on top of your maintenance; regular mowing, pruning, and clipping for maximum flower growth. If you are looking to plant then I'd recommend a native species. They don't require fertiliser and need very little water so very easy to maintain. 

Don't forget to look after yourself outside too. Wear a hat and plenty of sunscreen. Don't take your health for granted. Melanoma is the third most common cancer in Australia, so make sure you cover-up. 

Thank you to our Maintenance Team for all you do for our school!