This is the Observation, Reflect & Review stage of the process, although I didn't get as far as the Implementation, I do at least have the benefit of a couple of years more experience than when I first did this design.

 Without setting out to be negative about this design, there isn't much that I can honestly put into this section. Client interaction: My meetings with the tutors at the School were very positive & to receive so much enthusiasm for the design from them was very encouraging. Site analysis & design: While this is a big category, I felt that the whole analysis & design process went well, especially trying out the new macro design procedure. I was really pleased with the basic design that I came up with & excited that it was going to be used primarily for educational purposes. Funding document: Despite all the challenges that I had pulling it together & the total lack of costings within it, I was really pleased with the final result. Reading it again now, I think that it looks very good & could achieve it's objective... with the addition of those missing figures of course!
 

 For once, this section is really full! Budget: Clearly the budget was far from adequate for the project & it proved enough of an effort to even persuade the School governers to raise it from the original £500 up to £1000. Funding: The whole process of funding such a project left me incredibly challenged. I felt completely out of my depth as I knew virtually nothing about the process & had to learn as I went along. I was finally able to produce the funding document with some feedback from Simon Shakespeare, but it still lacked those important costings.

 Costings: I had little idea how to cost the project, fixed elements like trees & fencing I could cope with, but when it came to working out how many hours it would all take I felt it was all too much guesswork. I didn't want to overcost the project & not get any funding, but I also didn't want to risk working for a pittance either. Seeing the opportunity to plant trees over the winter months tick by as I tried to work out a budget added an extra sense of racing against the clock & I didn't enjoy it at all. Needless to say the costings were never fully calculated.

 Plant research: Though this was relatively less challenging than the previously mentioned elements, it was however still difficult to find the information that I needed to compile the plant lists for the History gardens & it took me far longer than I had anticipated. Disabled access: While this is clearly a very important subject, the need for wheelchair friendly paths for instance was giving me another headache. Apart from the extra cost that this would involve, the only path surface that seemed to be acceptable was concrete & I really didn't want to have to lay that down all over the garden. Like the costings, this issue never got resolved.

 Classroom materials: I could have created some classroom materials to back up the garden teaching sessions, but it seemed more sensible to save work by seeking out what already existed first. I discovered that there was a Permaculture & the National curriculum working group which I got involved with, but my initial enthusiasm for generating these materials was not enough to move it forward. I felt out of my depth there, not having the teaching background & knowledge about the National curriculum & I didn't really feel able to contribute.
 

 Despite all the challenges that came up, I don't see many things that I could have done differently. Of course, the design has not been implemented (yet?) & so nothing has been done that I could now change my mind about. Funding: As calculating the funding was clearly my main block to taking the project forward, I think that I ought to have been more determined about seeking the help of someone who could really help me with this & to not be afraid to say that I was well out of my depth with it. Building: I would have liked to have thought about the eco-building earlier & offered it as another option in my letter to the School. That would have given me more time to look into the planning issues to do with this & to cost it properly. Persistance: I really needed to keep going, despite my difficulties & not to let them overwhelm me to the point of giving up after all the work that I had put in.