The Royal Horticultural Society visited Gaywood Primary School. Picture: Ian Burt
Pupils learn to grow their own in King’s Lynn
By Doug Faulkner
Friday, March 22, 2013
9:36 AM
Green-fingered students at Gaywood Community Primary School, King’s Lynn, were able to get out of the classroom and get their hands dirty as they were joined by the Royal Horticultural Society.
Alison Findlay, RHS regional advisor, said: “Our aim is to get schools outside to learn about gardening.
“We want to teach children the life skills of gardening, from seeing where their food comes from to healthy eating.
“It’s a shame that it’s the coldest March for a number of years so I’m not doing any sowing today.”
As part of the RHS Campaign for School Gardening, Mrs Findlay will be working with three schools in the King’s Lynn area.
Headteacher Paul Shanks said: “We basically wanted to develop an outside area to promote good eating and show the kids where food comes from. We wanted a big area so we could bring a whole class out. We want to bring learning alive and make it more fun.
“They are learning about sustainability, composting and they are having a whale of a time. They like anything to do with mud and getting dirty.”
The gardening area has raised beds in which pupils will be able to grow vegetables which they will eventually cook in the school kitchen.
“It is lovely and it’s nice that each class has their own area to work on,” said teaching assistant Rachel Brundle. “Every class is going to be given a different thing to grow and they’re going to be able to cook the vegetables in the garden.”
Toby Rose, aged nine, said: “It’s a new thing so it’s exciting and you can get muddy.”
“That’s the main bit,” added Millen Bird, aged eight, “and it’s nice to get out of the classroom.”
Class teacher Anne Wilkinson said: “I like gardening myself so it’s good to enthuse the next generation.
“It’s brilliant to see them excited and engaged. The cleaners are going to kill me though.”
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3 comments
Come on Ingo, there must be a few other irrelevant stories you can impart your one-track wisdom on. What about 'Norfolk police dog killed sheep and a cat'? Should be an angle there somewhere.
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GoneAway
Friday, March 22, 2013
Excellent, the values of gardening to the curriculum has been undervalued for far too long. Pity that the incinerator will spill all over east Lynn and its eastern fringes for 284 days year.
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ingo wagenknecht
Friday, March 22, 2013
Very nice and it is good that children are learning to garden, something they would have picked up from parents and grandparents years ago . But I would like to be able to comment on the police dog killing a sheep,And my question is this. Why was the police dog, if off duty and near sheep not under effective control. Was the police dog handler so arrogant that they thought, like many other dog owners, that the dog did not need to be on a lead near livestock. Once again we see that under close control means nothing where dogs are concerned and the law should be changed to on a lead-no matter how long-when in a public place,including rights of way. A breakdown of discipline for a police dog could have meant attacking a child. The police should be setting an example, not making excuses. I wonder what would have happened if the landowner had shot the dog as was their right.
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Daisy Roots
Friday, March 22, 2013