Pupils who raised more than £16,000 to create a secret garden at their school are becoming disheartened by repeated vandal attacks on their playground.
Children and parents at Fraserburgh North School worked for months to transform a part of their overgrown grounds into an outdoor learning space, but the area has become a target of late.
The Finlayson Street school’s headteacher Caroline Roche says the children have been “devastated” to find their garden damaged and its contents broken and thrown around time and again.
She said: “So far, since lockdown, we have had broken planters, picnic benches set on fire, a shed broken to the point that it had to go in the skip, the bathroom windows broken and broken glass scattered all over our playgrounds.
“It is so upsetting for the children to have to find their hard work damaged and not to be able to play in their own playgrounds safely.
“Our primary six and seven class is understandably angry and upset by it.”
One dismayed senior pupil told teachers of their horror at finding an old television smashed and dumped in the garden one morning, saying: “We worked a lot for that and it’s just full of rubbish. We want people to enjoy it, not wreck it.”
Despite security cameras being in place and police and school staff making regular visits outside of teaching hours, the school has continued to fall victim to repeated damage.
Disheartening as that is, teacher Sophie Cargill says she and her colleagues are committed to rebuilding and are grateful for the offers of help from neighbours.
“We are determined to keep rebuilding and repairing in the hope that the vandals stop,” she said.
“We would love the garden to be a place for the whole community to enjoy, but it’s very frustrating to see all of our hard work destroyed time and again.”
Work is ongoing on the secret garden, but so far the parent council has raised around £16,000 for the project.
The group’s chairwoman Paula Harper-Buchan added: “Fundraising is generally hard to do as many families do not have disposable income to help their own school.
“We want our children to have the best time at our school; to be able to learn and grow and have the same things as other schools but all they learn to do is be disappointed because of the thoughtlessness that goes into mindless vandalism.
“Our kids truly deserve better.”
