There is some underused space around our school campus. We intend to put in raised beds to use this space for growing food, flowers, and herbs.

We intend to involve the community; school, nursery, church, and local; to help us maintain the growing space, and to share in the food which we grow. This will increase the role of the campus as a focus for community groups and positive local action.

We have a space in the school for cooking the produce, and a venue to support the sharing of what we grow together. This would expand the use of the cooking area in the school, making it more efficient and purposeful.

We intend to use the grounds development expertise of Earth Calling (https://earthcalling.org/) to create the space which our community groups can then maintain.

Earth calling will do the labour, and then deliver a training session for parents, staff, and community members so that they can take the allotment project forward.

The flowers will act as a welcome for pollinators as well as community members. The herbs will be available seasonally to local families, and used in sensory play in the nursery. The vegetables will be prepared and shared with the community, using our existing school cooking area, giving experience in harvesting, preparing, and cooking produce from fresh.  

The trees are intended to provide a green corridor between two existing isolated stands of trees on site. The wildlife hedging will provide a home for small animals, such as songbirds, and increase biodiversity on the site.

The community members, children, and staff, of the campus will have an opportunity to develop skills and awareness around food growing and plant care. We hope that adding a bench to the space will make it pleasant and encourage community members to spend time there and share skills. We will also have two tables, one which can be used for garden work, such as potting and gathering harvest, and the other one for offering produce, flowers, or herbs to the local community.

A class/year group (P5) from the primary school will maintain the allotment during the school day, and there is access outside of school hours, and terms, from the all-year nursery/ELC. Evening and weekend access would be through a ‘Friends of’ group who would have a copy of the gate key.

The class/year group (P5)will incorporate this into their ‘class yearly project’, as part of their Eco and Sustainability curriculum. This will form part of their Interdisciplinary Learning incorporating all curriculum areas including Literacy (Writing and Reading) and Mathematics. Allocating to a class/year group also ensures that all pupils as part of their, ‘StJV Pupil Learning Journey’ have this learning experience.

We would like to develop the outdoor farm area of Longstone Primary School.  We have so far constructed 5 large raised beds for growing vegetables and further space is available around it.  We would like to add fruit bushes and plants to this.  The area will help develop the children's understanding of where our food originates, allow them to learn how we can grow our own and then enjoy the reward of picking and eating it.  Our goal is to provide further outdoor learning opportunities and a space that the children can be proud to take care of.

How do we hope to spend the money?

We would like to purchase and plant a selection of fruit plants, including raspberries, blackcurrants, strawberries and rhubard.  We would also like a supply of seeds and seedlings for the vegetable area, including herbs for a sensory area.  We would also purchase some child-sized gardening equipment, including gloves, small trowels/forks and watering cans.  Other gardening supplies such as compost, seed pots and growing supports/trellises would also be needed.  We would also look to purchase a folding fire pit and safety equipment so that small groups could be involved with outdoor cooking.

Who will benefit from this project?

The site is accessed by 300 children - 250 from the primary school and 50 from the attached nursery.  This project would provide garden areas accessible to all of these children, giving the option for teachers to incorporate outdoor learning into their classes.  It would also be available for use in extra-curricular activites with a gardening club.  This project is coordinated by the parent council so would also provide volunteering and social activities for the parents and carers willing to help.