Pupils at St John’s Primary Academy in Coleford have been getting their hands dirty and growing plants and vegetables at a new after school gardening club. The club was set up by Pioneer Lay Reader Mark Bick, using funds from a diocesan grant as part of wider community engagement work. It is a part of the ongoing partnership between the school and Mid-Wyedean Parish.
Last summer, Mark and a small team of volunteers took on the garden at St John’s, working to restore the school growing area which had become overgrown and in some places was falling apart. In September, they started an after school gardening club, led by Mark, working with a local Forest School trained volunteer, a teacher from St John’s and another parent.
Mark says, “I’m passionate about nature and growing produce to eat. Sharing this with children has been wonderful as they have been fascinated by it all – everything from all the bugs and creatures they have discovered, to helping care for and grow their own food. It’s been exciting to watch their curiosity and enthusiasm grow each week.
“At first the children would be a bit put off by blemishes on an apple picked from the orchard, but now they come and ask me to cut out the bad bits so that they can enjoy the rest. They grew and ate peashoots and lettuces; we used cooking apples from the orchard to make an apple turnover in the school kitchen, and made and ate garlic bread the same week that we planted garlic. The children are involved from seed to plate, making compost, weeding the beds, sowing seeds and planting things out. There has been a dramatic change in perception about food and in their understanding of how to care for creation.”
Headteacher, Joanne Peaper, said, “The children have reconnected with nature, learnt about seasons, plants and wildlife. They have established a link between the growing of food and what they eat … the children have been so excited, by harvesting the produce they have helped to grow. There is also the potential to provide produce from the garden to support our school dinners that are cooked on site.
“There is much research to show how being outside and connecting with nature has a positive effect on wellbeing. The children are developing their knowledge and understanding of growing and eating a food, biodiversity, climate change and actions we can take to improve this.”
The initiative has provided a truly organic opportunity for the church and school to build relationships with parents and families, some of whom volunteer at the weekends to help clear and repair the garden areas. Mark also hopes to work with others from the church to offer a regular event where families can come together to eat a meal, cooked with local produce and experience a short act of worship.
Mark says, “We are taking a break from after school club during January and will start again after half term, sowing and planting things that the children have chosen to grow. The parent volunteers are continuing with repair and development work, including learning how stake and to prune the fruit trees, and the Year 1 class will be sowing peppers and tomatoes and caring for them in their classroom.
“Through these practical activities, children and parents can learn that God’s view of perfection is different: Like the good gardener, God cares about the small and seemingly insignificant things that actually play such a big part in how things work together for good.”
News Hub
