Back in May they planted their pumpkins with seeds harvested from the previous year. The Gardening Club children carefully weeded and watered these plants throughout the year, adding organic matter to the beds as feed. The pumpkin patch was a great success for our green-fingered pupils and last week, they harvested their glut of pumpkins. The children proudly delivered them to the catering team, who were challenged to put some pumpkin surprises on the menu. This turned out to be pumpkin soup, pumpkin and cauliflower salad, and pumpkin cake - which made for a very popular option at morning break. The children really enjoyed tasting these delicious items and they were so proud to know that they had grown the food themselves. 

The Pre-Prep Garden itself is a magical mixture of wildlife and tranquillity; a peaceful space in which our younger pupils can enjoy nature and experience growing their own food and flowers. It is a peat-free garden that does not use pesticides and uses only organic matter to feed the plants. The children are responsible for all aspects of the gardening: using tools safely, mulching the beds to keep weeds at bay, watering, planting, sowing and collecting the seeds for next year.

Next term the Pre-Prep Gardening Club, who are working towards their Level 4 RHS School Gardening Award, are hoping to grow spring salads and aim to produce something for the school kitchen each term. 

As a school, we launched 'The Great Outdoors' earlier this year to link our focus on outdoor learning, well-being and all things eco. Pupils across the school can also now enjoy many more outdoor learning opportunities following the installation of our outdoor classroom in the summer term. 

CL, Year 1 Teacher and Head of Eco