Heage Primary School has taken to planting in a serious way. The village school is situated within the Derbyshire countryside with 202 pupils from 4 to 11 years on role. We asked them why they had taken on this challenge of planting, growing and eating at their school.
What made the school interested in starting a growing club with the children?
The idea for the school allotment project stemmed from our cooking club (Yum-Yum Club). We started the cooking club in September 2008 with cooking equipment and utensils from the Sainsbury’s Active Kids vouchers. The idea behind the club was to drive the healthy eating message, teach pupils basic cooking skills and to then get the parents to join the end of the sessions to taste the results before going home with the healthy recipes the children had used.
Planting in the greenhouse
The cooking club highlighted the alarming fact that many children could not identify fruit and vegetables. Most pupils had never been involved in the growing process and were reluctant to try anything they could not recognise. This made for very limited diets. Parents reported that after trying “new veg” with friends at the club they had been able to introduce different ideas into meals at home. We felt a need to take this learning a step further, with the help of parental and community collaboration to support our efforts, the idea for an allotment developed.
Who is involved in the planting and growing?
Both the Yum-Yum Club and the allotment have been set up by Mrs Karen Yates (HLTA) and Mrs Diane Hunt the School Business Manager with support from other staff members. We also engage parents and grandparents to share their skills and experiences with staff and pupils, whilst welcoming them into school in an informal way. They are a great help with the planting and weeding too!
Harvesting the radishes to sell
What kinds of things have you done so far and who helped with the funding?
So far we have set up 4 raised beds. The school received (£8,145) funding from Derbyshire County Councils “Growing Better Together in Derbyshire” Scheme that paid for the construction of the beds, a poly tunnel and a shed to store equipment. The County Councils Grounds Maintenance Team constructed the beds for us and filled them with topsoil. The school has a heated conservatory that we have been able to utilise to sow and start seedlings off. The beds occupy an area of the school grounds that had previously been underutilised backing on to community allotments. This is also advantageous as the allotment owners are willing to swap cuttings and offer advice to the pupils.
What are you growing at the moment and who decides?
So far this year we have planted potatoes, onions, radish, beans, peas as well as various root vegetables straight into the raised beds. Tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, pumpkins and cucumbers have been raised in the conservatory and are now being transplanted into their final growing positions. Initially we appealed to our parents for donations of seeds and potato tubers and were overwhelmed by their generosity. To a degree this governed what we planted this year. We are working on a trial and error basis this first year and hope to learn from the successes and failures as we go. Staff, parents and pupils have all contributed in deciding what to grow. Pupils have particularly requested that we plant pumpkins, so we are holding a giant pumpkin growing competition and hope to sell pumpkins for Halloween carving.
Planting cauliflower and sweetcorn plants
How do the children get involved?
The children have been involved with the club from conception and very much drive things, choosing what is grown, how we will sell it, ways to raise funds to sustain the project etc. They have sown the seeds in the conservatory, dug and raked the soil in the raised beds and planted the potatoes and other crops straight into the soil. They have then nurtured the plants, weeding and watering as necessary. Each Thursday the pupils have a stall at the school gate to sell spare plants and any produce to their parents. This is an area we wish to expand further, possibly having healthy recipes to hand out with the relevant crop etc. The pupils are also responsible for maintaining accounts and marketing what is sold.
Pupils selling radishes at the school gates
Any benefits?
There have been many benefits. The pupils are really enthusiastic about the project and are learning basic gardening skills in an informal way. They are gaining confidence as they sell the produce and interact with adults. They have a better awareness about how vegetables grow, can now identify them and are looking forward to cooking with them. Parents tell us they feel more engaged with the school and better able to contribute in a positive but informal way. In turn they are learning the “healthy message” and are helping the school to improve the health of our pupils. A further unexpected benefit has been with the toddlers (age 2-4) that have accompanied their parents to the allotment. Those toddlers will soon be pupils at the school and this has been a good transition for them, their parents now feel more confident and secure about them joining the reception class when the time comes.
And what about future plans?
Plans for the future are to build upon the successes of this year and to have 2 more raised beds. We hope to extend the project to incorporate it into the wider curriculum ensuring the whole School Community can learn about the health benefits of growing and eating fresh produce. In the next academic year we hope to develop an “active learning group” using the allotment to allow pupils with inclusion difficulties more practical opportunity to access the curriculum. The Yum-Yum club will use the produce to cook with in the autumn. Pupils have ownership of the produce having invested time in its growth, so will hopefully be encouraged to taste them and be adventurous with their meals.
Active Kids Get Cooking October 2009