Gardening in schools

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Maggie1

Gardening in schools

Post by Maggie1 »

I've just seen an interview on BBC this morning. They are thinking or suggesting that gardening should be introduced as part of the curriculum in schools.
When I was at school (many moons ago) it was part of nature study. We did a bit of gardening in the school grounds. It could be weeding the school beds or digging or trimming hedges etc. Do they not do that anymore.
Surely in this day and age when some kids don't know where fruit and veg come from other than the supermarket it would be a good idea to encourage them to show them how to grow your own.
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manda
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Re: Gardening in schools

Post by manda »

Our school has gardens the children look after and the veggies get sold at the school gate ..I think it's a great idea....and they love it too.

Do parents get involved in looking after the school as well?....we having working bees every few months and the parents and children give a few hours over a weekend ...get a lost of jobs that need doing and get into it...you know stuff like tree work, planting, painting...the last few were completing the junior playground....but crikes when it's over there's a great sense of achievement and we love our school.
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Re: Gardening in schools

Post by Maggie1 »

I suppose its the old old story of they might hurt themselves and the parents can sue us.
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Re: Gardening in schools

Post by Maggie1 »

If I can remember right there was a link on here some time back where children had been stopped from visiting allotments as there was chemicals around.
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Re: Gardening in schools

Post by jannie »

This confused me when I saw it on the news :? .. I was under the impression that most schools already had a 'grow your own' programme. I don't know of any schools in this area without at least some raised beds and a greenhouse. Even our little village primary school has a garden where the children grow their own salad and herb crops for the school kitchen.. they also grow pots of salad leaves and cress to sell in the school fete.

I don't think the RHS , who are championing this campaign, are up to speed with what is already going on in schools under the life skills part of the curriculum.

If your local school hasn't a garden there's lots of help available from ..RHS )t'
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Annie
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Re: Gardening in schools

Post by Annie »

I have tried this with an after school club but the teacher running it was only there for the money he got from running an after school club in my opinion. No interest in learning how to grow things from seeds, how to recycle containers for growing, even when the kids sold the plants they had brought on from seed and raised £100 he still wasn't that interested.
Then one day I went to the veg patch to see it covered in a thick layer of stones, when I asked why , I was told it was too wet and it was 'easier ' to put stones down. Easier for the kids to chuck about but nobody seemed to think of that.
Totally disillusioned I never went back for a 2nd year. Now all the kids do in the garden club is pull a few weeds and plant a few pots for the front of the school (badly I might add)
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billnorfolk
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Re: Gardening in schools

Post by billnorfolk »

In the last year of senior school everone had a chance to do gardening as the school had its own veggie plot and a huge greenhouse .Those that worked on through the year were given a share of the veg to take home ,my mum thought that was great .Remember sticking a garden fork through my foot ,that made me hopping mad {rofwl} but certainly didnt put me off ,were my most enjoyable lessons ,ahhhh happy days )t'
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Maggie1

Re: Gardening in schools

Post by Maggie1 »

billnorfolk wrote:In the last year of senior school everone had a chance to do gardening as the school had its own veggie plot and a huge greenhouse .Those that worked on through the year were given a share of the veg to take home ,my mum thought that was great .Remember sticking a garden fork through my foot ,that made me hopping mad {rofwl} but certainly didnt put me off ,were my most enjoyable lessons ,ahhhh happy days )t'


Nowadays Bill they'd get sued.
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Re: Gardening in schools

Post by Mallard »

We had Rural Studies, a farm, tractor and animals! Sid, the teacher was brilliant, he taught us how to make all the different John Innes composts, all about growing from seed and how to incubate eggs etc. >ch<
Oh how I wish now that I'd listened! >dowhat<
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tamk23
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Re: Gardening in schools

Post by tamk23 »

My children's school had a gardening club on a lunchtime. They started it last year and built a greenhouse using old plastic bottles and planted loads of veg in their raised veggie patches. This year there has been no club, however, when we had a massive parent clean up, painting, planting flowers etc we have been told it will restart )t'
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Mo
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Re: Gardening in schools

Post by Mo »

You can do things in a club that you can't do if it is 'on the curriculum' and everyone has to do it.
I remember gardening at infant school. I didn't like it, because all we were allowed to do was plant out one bedding plant. I might have been given a choice of a blue lobelia or a white allysum. To my mind that wasn't real gardening. At home I had my own tiny plot so I thought gardening was grubbing about and growing things from seed.
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billnorfolk
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Re: Gardening in schools

Post by billnorfolk »

Maggie1 wrote:
billnorfolk wrote:In the last year of senior school everone had a chance to do gardening as the school had its own veggie plot and a huge greenhouse .Those that worked on through the year were given a share of the veg to take home ,my mum thought that was great .Remember sticking a garden fork through my foot ,that made me hopping mad {rofwl} but certainly didnt put me off ,were my most enjoyable lessons ,ahhhh happy days )t'


Nowadays Bill they'd get sued.


How true Maggie ,its a pretty sad world we live in ,makes people affraid to do anything that could be deemed as slightly unsafe,which just about covers everything. :?
Can remember my dad saying you wont be so daft next time will you. {rofwl}
A leek in the hand,is worth 2 in the roof.

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