|
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
Each year we run a competition to celebrate the achievements of schools in their garden. It doesn’t matter how large or small the space, how much or how little you grow. What does count is the amount of enthusiasm, effort and learning that occurs.
In 2005 there were 3 categories - read on to find out more about the winning entries and their prizes.
Staff and pupils from The Echelford
Primary School with their prizes
The Echelford Primary School gardenCategory: How does your garden grow 2005?
Winning School: The Echelford Primary School
2005 saw the first growing season at The Echelford Primary school, Middlesex.
All the children in the school had access to the gardens and grew a wide range of things from pumpkins to radishes to runner beans to sweet corn.
The potatoes from the garden were taken and used by the school kitchen. A demonstration of how to prepare potatoes was given by the catering staff. The potatoes were then served baked or mashed for lunch. Baked potatoes were definitely a big hit. Those children who weren’t lucky enough to get one were a bit disappointed.
The Reception children, in particular, had done lots of work in the garden. They were very excited and amazed when they found that potatoes, carrots, beetroot and onions grew underground. They experimented and found that beetroot can turn water and your fingers red! They took great care in art lessons to paint detailed pictures of the vegetable they found growing. They learnt that if they kept all the seeds they would be able to grow them next year for lots more marrows.
A beautiful mosaic designed by pupils at the school adorns the entrance to the school garden. This along with the growing, creatures and experiences in the garden inspired the Year 3 and 4 pupils to write some poetry.
Tickenham C of E Primary School's
Runner beans
Tickenham Gardening Club members
with their prizesCategory: Beans, beans, beans
Winning School: Tickenham C of E Primary School
Schools were asked to send in their overall figures for what they had produced from the runner beans sent to all schools. This school had the highest scoring points and included a whole runner bean project.
The children harvested 544 pods, the longest bean was 39cm and the overall crop was 8.256kg giving them a grand total of 904.12 points.
They had carried out an experiment in science to see if growing beans in pots or the garden would be more effective. They found out that no matter how much they watered the pots they eventually stopped producing beans but the ones in the garden just kept on growing. They were also easier to look after in the summer holidays in the garden.
The pupils have used their runner beans plants to help practice their maths skills – measuring, counting and weighing.
Teachers even had to count and weigh the beans before they were allowed to take them home to eat during the summer holidays.
The year 3 and 4 class were chosen to work out the final totals for the rest of the school.
Mrs Eastwood, the teacher who organises the gardening club, tells a lovely story of how one pupil collected armfuls of beans during lunchtime and then set themselves up to measure and count them. It proved to be a perfect opportunity for counting piles of ten and then counting the total in tens.
This was a truly multi sensory experience that the children gained a lot from and had fun too!
The Christian School
with their prizesCategory: Bean Creative?
Winning School: The Christian School
This category was to encourage schools to use the growing in their organic garden as inspiration for their artwork. As the teacher Mrs Morris runs the garden and organises art this was right up her street.
The pupils could use any part of the runner bean plant during the life cycle as inspiration for artwork using any type of media or technique.
The results from this school used the plants in flower, the structure the beans grew on, the seeds, the leaves and the beans.
A whole range of characters developed as a result of this work and all of the class made their own runner bean finger puppets with names like Cold Bean, Hawaiian Bean, French Bean and Australian Bean.
Montage of 'Bean Creative?' artworks
The winning schools and the runners up won prizes that were kindly donated to us. Please see the prizes page for details.
How does your garden grow?Details and photographs of our 2006 competition winners will be here soon.
 |
top |
|
|
|
|
| Garden Organic | Schools
project | Contact | Join |
All content © HDRA Page last updated 14 November, 2006 |
|
|
|
|
