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Why not share your gardening experiences and provide your children with a purposeful literacy activity?

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SO WHY GROW VEGETABLES IN SCHOOL?

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.

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.

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.

DON'T JUST VISIT THIS SITE ONCE - IT IS AN ACTIVE SITE TO WHICH INFORMATION AND RESOURCES WILL BE ADDED AS THEY BECOME AVAILABLE - ADD A LINK TO YOUR FAVOURITES.

Updates to the website will now 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.

Click on the image on the left to access the blog or click here to shre experiences.

RESOURCES NOW AVAILABLE CLICK HERE TO ORDER

The Root Family and Cabbage Family resources are now available - these add to the Onion Family and Peas and Beans resources.

Interactive Whiteboard Resources are available in Smart Notebook and PowerPoint formats. The resources can be edited to suit individual needs and cover the life cycles and plant families that are likely to be grown in the school vegetable patch. A wealth of photographs that can be used by the children are also provided on each CD. Click here to find out more.

For those of you without a school garden - also available shortly - Flowering Plants - a multimedia resource (Windows only) to support the Green plants section of the science National Curriculum. Click here for more information.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

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. Click here for information about use of manure and chemicals.

Save the honeybee

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.

FUNDING SCHOOL GARDENING PROJECTS

Do you know of any organisations that offer funding to support school gardening projects or any other support that schools can tap into when setting up or resourcing a school garden area? If you do please email me and I will add to this page with information and links that may be helpful to schools seeking funding and support.

FREE POWERPOINT RESOURCES

Available for download to support Literacy sequencing activity

ABOUT ME:

I taught in a primary school for 26 years before becoming an ICT consultant employed by a Local Authority. I am now an independent consultant and create websites and classroom resources for primary schools.
My interest in school gardening combines my professional experiences and the fact that I currently garden five allotment plots.

ABOUT THIS WEBSITE AND RESOURCES:

This website aims to support schools in the creation of their school gardens.

As well as offering very cost effective resources that most teachers will never have the time to produce themselves, it aims to provide links to useful websites that will cut down on the amount of time teachers spend searching. 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 to email

Also provided are ideas for how a gardening project can support other areas of the curriculum.

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.

Example school website

Badsworth CE (VC) Junior & Infant School

Example small business website

ATS - Airport & Travel Services Wakefield

SHARE YOUR GARDENING PROJECT:

It is valuable for children to have the opportunity of producing information for different audiences and seeing their efforts published.

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.

Just send me some photographs of your garden or plot and some information produced by the children explaining what they grow and what they like about 'growing their own'. For instance has it changed how they feel about vegetables.

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 here.

Permission Form MS Word version

Permission Form PDF version