Mr Rieger’s Roses

We all know how lucky we are to have a caretaker like Mr Rieger (or ‘Mr Greg’ as he is often known) at our school. Not only does he take great care of the school grounds and buildings but he supports us gardeners with all the projects we do around the school, even though they sometimes make more work for him in his already busy days.

For example our fantastic school orchard used to be an empty grass lawn. Not so exciting for us or for the environment, but very easy to mow and keep tidy if you are Mr Rieger. But fill it up with rows of beautiful fruit trees and companion plants, and it means that to cut the grass Mr Rieger now needs to get the weed eater out and go around each and every tree by hand. Imagine how much more work that is for him! It would be so easy for him to be negative about these kind of projects but in fact he has been one of our biggest supporters. 

And it’s not just the gardeners of the school he supports. If a person ever needs help he’s there in a moment. He knows every student – and we are a school of over 700 pupils – and is there at the bike gate every day with an encouraging word or (more likely) a cheeky joke to see us safely on our way home.

Aa a way of showing Mr Rieger how much we appreciate him, Clare and some of the staff and school families decided to get together and make a rose garden for him. Last week Clare prepared the beds and planted the roses. The garden is by Mr Rieger’s shed, and faces out onto the road. So next time you are on your way to school and see the beautiful blooms lighting up your summers day, remember why they are there, and take the time to say a big thank you to our very own Mr Greg for all that he does for our school.