Learning School Gardens

In 2018, Capital Growth ran a programme of food growing environmental education and support for teaching staff, targeting schools in Hackney and Tower Hamlets. The programme helped hundreds of pupils learn science, maths and environment studies through growing food. 

Why grow food in schools?

Growing food in schools has benefits for health and wellbeing and educational attainment: a survey by Food Growing Schools London showed 61.7% of pupils improved awareness of healthy eating and 79.2% of pupils improved attainment as a result of involvement in food growing. 

Food growing gardens can be used as outdoor classrooms, helping teachers to deliver a wide range of curriculum-linked subjects. There is also a growing interest in encouraging pupils to value the food they grow and think about where their food comes from, particularly as a school’s food culture is now assessed by Ofsted. Many schools have started to use ‘enterprise’ as a hook to engage pupils in food growing and encourage learning about maths as well as wider issues around the environmental impact of food. 

What is the Learning School Gardens project?

The aim of the project was to:

• Promote environmental issues around food;
• Encourage use of gardens as outdoor classrooms for maths and science; 
• Provide a greater awareness of where their food comes from and the importance of wildlife in the garden
• Celebrate achievement and encourage enterprise with a School Marketplace

What are we offering?  

• 5 monthly on-site workshops at school gardens on Thursdays, from February to June 2018, including an inspirational visit to a working farm/garden. 
• An online resource pack with lesson plans, worksheets and activities, which links to our online Harvest-ometer tool which helps pupils to record their harvest, and calculate its financial value. Available for all schools in our network.
• Monthly tips for schools and teaching staff available to our network of schools
• Training sessions for teachers at our Regents Park Allotment plus ongoing one-to-one advice
• A celebration event at City Hall on Friday 13 July 2018, the Schools Marketplace, where each school will sell produce on a market stall. (Note: 2 adults and 3 children from each school)

This project was supported by the Ernest Cook Trust and run by Capital Growth.