Great idea takes root with pupils as school's 'nurture garden' is started
Green-fingered pupils from a secondary school in Shrewsbury are ready to get stuck in at their new outdoor 'nurture garden'.
Staff and pupils at Belvidere School in Shrewsbury will be creating a garden to grow produce for use in the school kitchen or cookery lessons.
Thanks to funding from the Shropshire Wildlife Trust, pupils between the age of 11 and 14 will benefit from working in the garden, learning valuable life skills.
Nurture Class teacher Sarah Macmillan and teaching assistant Ruth Skone are running the nurture garden lessons and said the pupils are very excited about it.
Ms Macmillan said: “We are a small Nurture Class and combined with the school eco committee we are having a new garden built in another year’s time. So, in the interim, we are having a small garden to grow food for the canteen or cookery lessons and breakfast club.
“We have secured funding from the Shropshire Wildlife Trust but we are applying for future donations for tools because we are starting from scratch.”
“We will be growing strawberries and tomatoes, as well as flowers so we can get insects and birds and lettuces and cucumbers – all things we can use in the canteen.”
The Nurture Class is made up of eight pupils from Year 7 to Year 9, but the project will be shared with the school’s eco-committee.
“It’s about building teamwork and it’s very hands on,” Ms Macmillan added, "and it’s just about getting stuck in.”
Once the nurture garden is in full swing, it is hoped that pupils will be able to spend four to five hours a week in the garden.
