Throughout the building of our project, we have focused on ensuring that the area will continued to be used frequently in the school. We planned for the garden to withstand many years of weathering and use.
We wanted to create an educational area that the school can use at any time in the school day. The area will hopefully be used within lessons and at break/lunch. Teachers will be able to use the area to promote outdoor learning, through the educational resources on offer. The school may also want to open the area to the children at break and at lunch, as we have created a seated area so that the children can sit down and relax. The area has been designed to be a quiet and relaxing area, therefore children may want to go into the area in their break and lunch times.
We added an allotment area as it can teach children about soil, nutrition, science and life cycles of the vegetables and the creatures attracted to the garden. A vegetable plot can raise children’s awareness of the seasonal nature and the variety of food. Alongside this, the school may want to use the food in lessons such as food technology, and they may also want to use the food grown for lunches.
Pupils in the school were also able to create a bugs hotel. We wanted the pupils to work collaboratively and independently to create this, as it offers children a handful of learning opportunities. Creating a bug hotel is a great project for children to be involved in, as it will help them learn more about their natural environment. It is important that children are exposed to life enhancing gardening experiences as they learn best through first hand experiences. We have also added magnifying glasses to the area for the bugs hotel as it will help extend children’s learning.
Bug hotels are a great learning source for all ages of children, children will learn new vocabulary, play alongside others, spend quality time with practitioners and care about living creatures.
To leave a legacy at the school we wanted pupils and staff to have a deeper understanding of how to manage the area and sustain it for the future, therefore we ordered a variety of books to help them learn the skills that are necessary. The school were able to order two copies of each book, and they will be placed in the library for the children and staff to read. The following books have been purchased and placed within the school:
· National Geographic Kids Readers: Plants (National Geographic Kids Readers: Level 1)
· Gardening for beginners
· Fundamental Science Key Stage 1: Roots, Stems, Leaves and Flowers: All About Plant Parts
· My First Book About How Things Grow (My First Books)
· Grow it, Eat it
· The Book of Gardening Projects for Kids
We had some very positive comments left by the children when we finished our project, and it was evident they they already love the area we have built them:
'I like how the area is full of colour and there is so much colour'
'I love all the decorations on the frame [pergola], it makes the area really interesting'
'I can't wait for all the vegetables to grow, I am going to eat them all'
'The garden is going to be used by birds and lots of bugs as well as us'
'It will be great sitting here, [the outdoor area] eating our lunch'
However, we also wanted to ask what they think can be improved in our outdoor area:
'They [balancing buckets] should be painted with patterns'
'There needs to be loads more spinning things [spinners], they are cool'
The wood [pergola] would look so much better if it was painted'
We are extremely proud of what we have created, and it feels us with joy that we have been able to have this effect on the children. We hope they continue to enjoy this area, and continue to use it for the foreseeable future. We are also so thrilled that there are no major changes the children would like to make to the outdoor area. This highlights how are hard work has been focused on what the children would like as oppose to only us.
A message from a teacher at our project's school highlights how our garden is leaving a lasting legacy at the school:
'I would like to say a huge thank you for all you have done and I am sure all the school will enjoy using the area. I have a mum who has taken a real interest in helping support and keeping the new garden going and I will certainly encourage staff to use it as an extension of the classroom.'
We are extremely happy that our outdoor learning area is going to be used frequently to enhance the learning of all pupils.