|
|
|
| ABOUT ME | I taught in a primary school for 26 years before becoming an ICT consultant employed by a Local Authority. My interest in school gardening combines my professional experiences and the fact that I currently garden five allotment plots and a garden. I also have a keen interest in wildlife.  New Guestbook added please leave a message Please also contact me if you find any mistakes, missing images or broken links.
| ABOUT THIS WEBSITE AND RESOURCES | This website aims to support schools in the creation of their school gardens. It aims to provide as much information and advice as possible in one place including links to useful websites. This should cut down on the amount of time teachers spend searching for information. If you do locate a website that you think would be useful to others, then please send me the link by emailing me. 
Click here for direct links to a range of seed companies - also try Alan Romans for a huge choice of seed potato varieties | *FREE ONLINE & DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES* The resources that were originally available on CD are now being transferred online. Commission gained from sales from the links on this site now enable us to offer these resources freely. There are two resources to support work on each of the plant families. One is delivered through web pages and contains information and photographs of each of the stages of each plants development including some information about raising your own plants from seed. The second resource is a downloadable Smart Notebook file with activities to support the online resource - these included naming of the plants, matching the plant to the seed and arranging the lifecycle. The resources available now are indicated below and the others will be added as soon as possible. Click here to read more and access the resources that are available. |
SO WHY GROW VEGETABLES IN SCHOOL? |  | Many schools recognise the value of introducing their pupils to gardening and the production of fruit and vegetables. This is not only becoming a very popular 'extra' curricula' activity, but with an increase in the interest of teaching through a thematic approach, school gardening projects are set to become very popular. Not only do children become more aware of how their fruit and vegetables are produced but they are also more likely to want to eat crops that they have grown themselves. Many schools take this a step further by teaching the children how to cook the crops that they harvest. NB: With any activity that involves contact with soil there is a danger of being infected by tetanus it is therefore important that everyone involved in gardening activities has up to date tetanus protection. Schools may restrict their gardening to after school activities, however, increasingly 'the school vegetable patch' is embedded into the curriculum. Developing a school garden can provide a focus for activities in many areas of the curriculum. Along with the practical gardening skills that the children will learn are opportunities for learning about plant growth and food chains in science. Maths activities can be linked to the construction of raised beds, plant supports and calculating the number of plants to be grown in a given area. There are countless opportunities for literacy and art activities as well as opportunities in design technology, history and geography. |
SHARE YOUR GARDENING PROJECT | If your school has a vegetable patch and you would like to share some information and photos to celebrate your achievements then email them to me by clicking here. Not only does sharing your gardening project with others offer support to those just beginning such a project but this type of sharing activity can give the children the chance to have their work published to a wider audience and in so doing enhance a literacy project. If you can provide an article to include on the example gardens page the just email me some photographs of your garden or plot and information produced by either the children or an adult. You could also include information about what is being grown and what the children like about 'growing their own'. For instance has it changed how they feel about vegetables? Be the first to have your information added to this page. | INTERNET SAFETY: Please do not include photographs of children without having parental and the child's permission and also make sure children do not identify themselves in their writing - just a first name. I will only publish work and photographs if accompanied by the form obtained by clicking on a version of an example permission form.  |  | Permission form MS Word version | Permission form PDF version |
| | FUNDING GARDENING PROJECTS IN SCHOOL | | Do you know of any gardening organisations that offer funding to support school gardening projects or any other support that schools can tap into whne setting up or maintaining a school garden area? If you do please email me and I will add the information to this page. Let's work together to try and help schools get started! |
| SHOPPING LINKS | The shopping links pages provide access to companies that offer products which you may find useful. Some offer a small amount of commission on sales which are generated when placing an order after accessing using links from this site. This supports the continued work on this site and creation of resources. Some companies also offer discount to customers who use links from this site. Most of the shopping links pages also have information concerning the area in which the product may be used. Other pages also have links to appropriate products | HARROD HORTICULTURAL are offering 10% discount on timber raised beds, netting and materials, (includes enviromesh and weed suppressant fabric), to our visitors who access their website and place an order from one of our links. Please quote GLBEDS or GLNETS at the checkout click on the links to access products that are subject to this special discount | | SAVE MONEY AT 
WHEN YOU VISIT FROM MY SITES | 10% discount for our visitors! Additionally Victoriana are offering a 10% discount on orders placed when accessing from this website. No code required as discount is automatically applied Click here for Victoriana home page If you are ordering for a school you can take advantage of the Victoriana School discount scheme. Schools are offered a blanket discount of 20% on seed and plant orders and 10% on garden tools and sundry orders (this discount does not extend to the carriage element of any order). For more information click here |
|
| IMPORTANT INFORMATION PLEASE READ! | SAVE THE HONEYBEE | ! VERY IMPORTANT READ BEFORE USING MANURE ! If you are considering manuring your school plot, before you arrange for any deliveries make sure that you are fully aware of the danger of the herbicide contamination of manure supplies that has caused major problems across the country for the gardening community. Click here for more information. for information about use of manure and chemicals.Click here | 
One factor in the decline of honeybees has been shown to be the use of pesticides containing neonicotinoids. To find out how you can help the honey bee population visit the Soil Association's website. This topic would also provide a great letter writing activity for children. Click here for information on how to write to your MP. |
HELP SPREAD THE WORD - DO YOU HAVE A WEBSITE OR BLOG? | I'd like as many schools as possible to be able to take advantage of the information on this website but Google will prioritise sites with the most number of links from other websites. Can you help by posting a link to this page on your website or blog (that is of course if you have found the site to be useful!) Additionally if you have a school website that has photographs or information about your school vegetable plot, I would love to include a link on the empty page set aside for school garden examples. Schools seem to be very shy of sharing their efforts - remember it is just as valuable to share what went wrong!! Also please contact me if you have seen a school website with such information and I will contact them to ask permission to link to them. 
|
This is an active website so don't just visit once and then forget all about us - why not add a link to your favourities list? | Updates to the website will be posted on the accompanying blog - you can register to follow the blog so that you can keep track of any updates - also on the blog is an area where you can post your experiences or maybe ask questions. To do so click here. |
| WOULD YOU LIKE A NEW SCHOOL OR SMALL BUSINESS WEBSITE? | Would you like a new easy to update primary school or small business website but just haven't the know-how or time to create your own. Maybe I can help by setting up a site for you. If you are interested contact me using the contact button on the navigation bar for more details. Limited number of jobs taken and once the site is created you can maintain it yourself. Example small business website Example of school websites (some work in progress) |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| |
|