The “We Grow, You Grow” initiative has officially launched at College and we are very pleased to be the first school in the UK to adopt it.
Built in collaboration with the Thomas Franks Foundation, the College now has a lovely allotment, with a range of growing areas, including a greenhouse, raised beds and other growing zones; a polytunnel will follow when the weather improves.
As part of the initiative, our Prep pupils will learn all about how the garden grows. They will cover a whole range of topics including learning how plants are grown and then the more practical aspects of planting seeds and picking the fruit and vegetables at the end of the Summer.
Pupils were very excited to have their first lesson today and they began by examining vegetables from local supermarkets. They discovered the majority had large carbon footprints as they had travelled from other countries such as Spain, Denmark and even Morocco, and talked about how the vegetables grown in our garden would be local produce.
In the greenhouse, Year 3 pupils learnt about seeds and planted carrots. Outside in the main body of the garden, Year 5 pupils learnt about preparing the beds correctly and then planted up the raised beds with courgettes and cauliflowers.
Everyone was treated to fresh pizzas cooked in the garden, with Surplus to Purpose ingredients, as a thank you for all of their hard work.
Next term, we hope to offer the same educational opportunity to local primary schools. Across the College, pupils will be able to use and enjoy the garden in a variety of ways, including to measure how well different crops grow in different circumstances.
Many thanks go to Dean Collins and Raj Singh from the charity and our Bursar Mr Leggett, who together with some volunteers have built the garden and are delivering the training in collaboration with our teaching staff.
