Background Information
Badger Hill School is a primary (3 -11yrs) school located in a semi-rural setting in Redcar, Cleveland. There are currently 211 pupils on roll, including part-time nursery children. The Teaching Assistants deliver cooking and healthy eating activities to pupils during afternoon lessons. Badger Hill School also works in partnership with their Local Authority catering service to provide children and parents with advice on healthy eating.
Why did the school decide to make improvements?
The school already had a small garden for younger pupils to enjoy. However, Badger Hill wanted to develop the garden area further; to enable KS2 pupils to be able to access it during break times and learn about growing and harvesting fruit and vegetables.
Who was involved in driving forward the improvements?
- Heather Rowe, Head Teacher
- Mrs Shaw, Teaching Assistant
- Pupils on the School Council
- Richard Smith, DIG IT Project
Badger Hill School decided to enlist the help of Richard Smith from the DIG IT Project. The DIG IT Project designs and installs allotment-style gardens into schools to enable, not only the children, but the wider community, to grow and harvest fresh fruit and vegetables. Heather Rowe Head Teacher, comments that “Richard gave us the best quote and we were impressed with his enthusiasm”. For more information about the Dig It Project then please visit: www.digitprojects.com
The School Council met with Richard Smith and discussed various designs for the garden. Once the garden was built, pupils from the gardening club then decided where to plant their fruit and vegetables. Mrs Shaw, Teaching Assistant, helped to make the space into a working garden.
How did the school fund the project?
One of the pupils won £1000 for the school, in a competition. The rest of the money came from the Parent Teacher Foundation fundraising and The Standards Fund.
What improvements were made?
In September 2008, the school commissioned Richard Smith to design its new garden area. He sourced all of the materials for the garden. Pupils and their parents sourced a range of plants and seeds to incorporate into the garden. A newsletter was sent out to parents and carers informing them of the garden project and its progress.
Pupils at Badger Hill Primary School worked alongside Richard Smith to create a fully developed garden. The new garden area now boasts a seating area, a chess board, fruit trees, flower boxes and a vegetable plot. The photos below show how the area was developed
What have been the benefits of the project?
Pupils have gained team-working skills and now feel a great sense of pride and ownership for their garden. Visitors always comment upon the garden and the children are always keen to share what they have done in the garden with their parents.
Pupils are now much more aware of healthy eating and having a healthy lifestyle. All the produce grown is utilised in a number of ways. In recognition of the importance of healthy eating Mrs Shaw supports the children each afternoon, in working in the garden and learning to cook. She also runs ‘Lets Cook Together’ sessions for children and parents and uses produce from the garden, when possible.
Some of the produce has been sold at the local café. This helps towards buying new seeds and parents have also contributed seeds and plants from their own allotments and gardens. Pupils are engaged in the project and have begun to ask their parents to develop their own vegetable patches at home. The new garden has also provided pupils with a peaceful place to visit at lunchtimes.
Whole school Approach:
The school food policy was developed at the same time as the garden but before the benefits of the garden were fully realised. The policy will be updated in September 2010 to incorporate some of the on-going work in the garden.
The gardening project has supported learning and has linked topics in PSHE and Cookery. Example topics have included learning about the Vikings and baking authentic oatcakes and preparing vegetable soup which was popular during the wartime. The children have also made healthy food wheels and prepared a healthy food option from each section of the wheel.
Sustainability:
The garden project is completely sustainable, with no additional running costs as the seeds are harvested and the plants are donated by parents.
Tips for Success
“Make sure there is a good team of people willing to help maintain the garden” Heather Rowe Head Teacher.
Contact Details:
If you would like further information regarding this case study then please feel free to contact the School Food Trust on 0800 089 5001. Alternatively please feel free to email any enquiries to info@sft.gsi.gov.uk Thank you.
