SIXTH form students at a special school in Worcester can now party in style after a local business completed a landscaping project.

Postcode Anywhere, based in Worcester, completely transformed a run-down pond area in the grounds of Manor Park Special School.

Members of the senior management team at the technology company decided to undertake the exercise to help the school, in Turnpike Close, and use it as a team-building opportunity to see how well they interacted with each other when up against a different type of pressure. The project was severely hampered by the wet weather and time constraints as the keen amateur horticulturalists had to carry out the landscaping at weekends and after work.

They accomplished their mission just in time for the sixth form students' end-of-year barbecue.

The school is preparing to close at the end of this term, along with Rose Hill and Thornton House special schools. They will then reopen in September as Fort Royal Community Primary School and Regency High School.

Dave Palmer, headteacher at Manor Park, said: "I think quietly Guy Mucklow and his team really enjoyed the project and we're thrilled with our lovely sensory garden and water feature.

"It seems an appropriate time to thank all the school's other supporters, such as governors, parents and friends for their stalwart patronage over the years. Community spirit is alive and kicking in Worcester and I would urge other businesses to forge links with their local schools as there will always be ways in which they can help them."

Guy Mucklow, Postcode Anywhere's managing director, got the idea for the exercise from one of his American customers, which holds an annual conference in San Francisco where delegates are asked to build something of social significance in the poorer parts of the community.

He said: "We bonded as a team so it's more beneficial than going to a corporate jolly where the scenarios are contrived."