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03 Aug 2011
Children tend to their veggies at Porter Croft School
Our food growing project Green Groove has been up and running in six schools for a year, and kids, teachers and parents have been delighted with the results so far. The project focuses on container growing – a great option where gardening space is in short supply, as windowsills and back yards make perfect homes for containers.
In schools we’ve set up container growing areas, and children decided what they wanted to plant and grow after food tasting experiments.
At Porter Croft school our weekly growing club was so popular that teacher Sarah Doherty decided to link growing to the curriculum directly, so that the whole year group could take part. Growing became the medium for children to explore maths, science and literacy. They even created a farm shop role play area in their classroom. Sarah said “This fantastic growing project is a real treat for the children. It promotes team work and raises self-esteem, and I am especially pleased with the way it has helped to promote healthy eating.”
At Byron Wood school the children have helped to create four themed raised beds, which link to the topics they’re covering in their lessons. Byron Wood teacher Sean Hudson said “This project has been great for a school like ours. The children are so enthused – they love being outdoors growing and they love the taste of fresh fruit and veg. It’s the stuff like this that the kids will remember when they leave school, not the English and maths lessons that I teach them every day!”
We’ve delivered regular educational sessions to children to teach them all about growing their own fruit and vegetables. At the end of the school year, children planted up seeds in their own growing kits, which they were given to take home and nurture to provide fresh vegetables for their families this summer.
Children’s parents have also been able to get involved and learn more about growing, and have been invited into schools to join in with grow and eat picnics. Some parents even shared their favourite recipes in school cook-off’s, and lots more bought school-grown plants at our plant sales.
This year we’ve worked with 989 children, 23 teaching staff and 113 parents, and we’re looking forward to working with lots more next year.
The project is funded by the Big Lottery’s Local Food scheme.
