For years Lucy has been passionate about integrating gardening,
cooking and the arts into the National Curriculum and she hopes to
one day illustrate this in an outdoor classroom at the Chelsea
Flower Show - when she finds a sponsor!
Lucy is passionate about getting gardening not only into primary education but also bringing it back into high schools. Carrying out curriculum subjects in a practical way is easily carried out by a teacher with some drive and imagination and also gets the children out of their stuffy classrooms. Not only are there the obvious links to healthy living and eating , cooking and wildlife but also applying maths to the real world by learning how to measure out the garden and draw it to scale, history to link the design and planting to the past. Apply geography to illustrate plant origins, climate change and plot the weather etc, etc!!!!!! Endless art based opportunites, creation of outdoor performance spaces. Call upon the local community for matierials, funding and helping the school create the space. Maybe a local garden club could help the children to water the garden during the holidays and pass on some of their gardening skills!
Lucy is passionate about getting gardening not only into primary education but also bringing it back into high schools. Carrying out curriculum subjects in a practical way is easily carried out by a teacher with some drive and imagination and also gets the children out of their stuffy classrooms. Not only are there the obvious links to healthy living and eating , cooking and wildlife but also applying maths to the real world by learning how to measure out the garden and draw it to scale, history to link the design and planting to the past. Apply geography to illustrate plant origins, climate change and plot the weather etc, etc!!!!!! Endless art based opportunites, creation of outdoor performance spaces. Call upon the local community for matierials, funding and helping the school create the space. Maybe a local garden club could help the children to water the garden during the holidays and pass on some of their gardening skills!
Keith Offord at Hadlieigh High School, Suffolk, inspired Lucy into gardening (along with my
mother) back in the early 80's and she hopes that following working with 75 of the Yr 7
children one day they can re-establish part of the amazing school garden that she was
lucky enough to work in!
The first school garden Lucy worked with was Arbor School, Risby near Bury St Edmunds where she worked with children who wanted to create a Sensory Garden. It turned into the Global Sensory Garden as seen below. It was divided into the continents of the world and then only the native plants of each continent that would survive our winters were selected . Styalized dens and classrooms add character to the garden and sculptures such as a Totem Pole in North America give the children fun projects to research and create.
The first school garden Lucy worked with was Arbor School, Risby near Bury St Edmunds where she worked with children who wanted to create a Sensory Garden. It turned into the Global Sensory Garden as seen below. It was divided into the continents of the world and then only the native plants of each continent that would survive our winters were selected . Styalized dens and classrooms add character to the garden and sculptures such as a Totem Pole in North America give the children fun projects to research and create.
Global School Garden, Arbor School -
Entering through the scented Channel Tunnel
Entering through the scented Channel Tunnel
The North American wagon den awaits its cover
Snow in Summer (Cerastium) runs up to Antarctica.
The igloo den is surrounded by recycled blue glass
The igloo den is surrounded by recycled blue glass
Lucy is delighted to be working with East Feast who share her passion
for getting the arts into schools. She is of course CRB checked and
has great fun working with the children creating willow sculptures,
designing and planting raised beds for fruit and veg or Labyrinths etc,
etc.
Arriving at Whatield Primary School one chilly March morning laden with willow!
What could it be?
An artistic version of a dinosaur!
SCHOOL GARDENS