The Inner Dancer

BBC Gardeners World Spring Fair 2024

The Inner Dancer explores the narrative, ethos and nature of the work undertaken at Bugle House, Great Oaks School. This unique provision caters for young people with SEND (Special Educational Needs & Disabilities). Each young person is different and has their own experiences & challenges. Additional needs coupled with adverse childhood experiences places them under imaginable strain. Yet they all share one thing, each has a gift they can bring to the world.

This Shrouded in a carpet of native flora, the Inner Dancer finds itself enveloped within a dynamic and tangible wilderness, both playful and educational in its inception. Greeted by a cylindrical slatted structure, a central path gives way to multiple entrances. Windows within allure the onlooker to what ensues. Inside a labyrinth unfolds, a series of interlinking paths, communal areas and secluded pockets set out in a radial format entice those within to indulge further; a place to learn, a place to play, a place to unwind, a place to seek their inner dancer.

The garden features a plethora of native species, inspired by the wider landscapes of the New Forest and South Downs, this deliberate inception will allow students to learn, interact and familiarise themselves with the local landscapes and environments. This will provide a platform from which external parties such as Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust to interact and engage with the students further, highlighting the vital role we can play in revival, conservation and preserving nature. The school also plan to open the garden to other SEND children and the wider community so all can benefit from this green space.

Click here to Read more about this project and to support us in its relocation to the school.

Click here to view the planting list (Uploaded 3rd May when the show is live).