Allotment Project
How do we grow in an urban environment?
Term: 2014-15 No. Teachers: 6 No. Students: 75 What was the situation? We had just moved into the middle school area of the school and there was very little landscaping outside. There was also the question of how to build a better sense of crew amongst the year group as a new cohort into the school. What was the brief?
Each coaching group was given the task of building and constructing raised planter and then deciding what to plant over the year in time for the final harvest in July-September. What were the learning objectives?
What were the outcomes?
Strengths Despite the brief being relatively simple, this project left pupils with enough freedom to keep on developing their allocated plots and surrounding areas with artefacts, creating a culture of iterative design and development that was exciting to see. It led to much agency amongst the year group and it felt like there were enough milestones throughout the year for it to sustain interest. The project was done during coaching time, of which there are four 50minute periods a week, so we were able to have periods of intense working at certain times of the year and then revert back to our PSHE/Coaching curriculum. There were lots of enquiry questions that emerged from this projects including a genuine desire to understand the science behind how best to cultivate plants to grow and, of course, an interest in art and design technology as the build and decorated their areas. Areas for Development As with many projects, the aim was to have something that was continuously developed over time by each year group, but it was neglected for a couple of years until a teaching assistant and an external gardener can and supported with setting it back up again. There were some practical and logistical challenges with not having an outdoor water point and having to rely on a rain water collection tank. Also, watering the plants over the summer holidays became difficult as staff and students were out. Luckily our facilities team helped out in the first year. Future Possibilities This project was great for getting children to bond through a collective spirit, especially as they were dealing with living things and that always brings out the more empathetic and nurturing side of children. I believe it would be a great annual project with year 5 pupils who take over from the previous year after they have harvested the food at the start of year 6 in September and end with a Harvest festival event that could involved cooking some of the crops. |