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PUPILS GROW GOOD IN THE GARDEN

By County Press Reporter - Friday, June 16, 2006
By Sue Lupton
THE best way to encourage children to enjoy something is to make it fun — and gardening is obviously tremendous fun at Northwood Primary School.
The organic kitchen garden is a work of art, with a billowing herb garden, raised beds for vegetables, colourful murals painted on a shed and a beautiful butterfly mosaic on the wall of the school.
Brightly painted tyres have been recycled into planters for runner beans, potatoes and sweetcorn, while a polytunnel contains broad beans and tomatoes.
Northwood is one of two Island schools chosen to receive the new Barbara Smith Award, worth £500; the other is St Boniface Primary, in Ventnor.
The award has been set up by the IW Gardens Trust in memory of Mrs Smith, a founder member who had a keen interest in encouraging young people to learn about the environment.
Rob Mew, spokesman for the trust, said: "We were looking for organic, sustainable, long-term gardening projects in schools. The idea behind the award was to find projects that were up and running but needed money to grow."
At Northwood, the money will be used for solar panels on the shed roof, creating a bigger kitchen garden and improvements to the school's wildlife garden.
Headteacher Vicki Johnson explained that the school ran a lunchtime growing club, which gave each of the 200-or-so students a chance to get involved. The club is organised by a school parent, Julia Neill, who supervises the young gardeners with the help of "head gardeners", year four pupils David Adams and Robert Griffiths.
Vicki said: "We set up the garden two years ago for several reasons. We wanted an alternative activity for children at lunchtime and we wanted the children to understand the link between what you eat and where it comes from.
"The children have taken such huge pride in the garden that I think it has transformed the way we all think about our environment."
The school makes its own compost from kitchen waste, using compost bins and a wormery. In another form of recycling, guinea pigs process vegetables into fertiliser. Recycled IW Compost is used to fill containers and top up beds when necessary.
The children grow strawberries and a wide variety of vegetables in raised beds: carrots, radishes, lettuces, spinach, courgettes and shallots, to name a few. They are involved in every stage of the growing process, from preparing the ground to harvesting the crops, which are used in school dinners. Surplus vegetables are sold to parents, with the funds raised used to buy materials for the garden.
When the County Press visited, we were taken on a guided tour by two keen gardeners, David Adams, nine, and Esme Johnson, eight. "I started coming to the growing club with some mates, then I got really into it," said David.
"I was really pleased when I was picked to be a head gardener. I come out to the garden every lunchtime. One of the things we are in charge of is watering."
Esme explained how the herb border had been mulched with compost to keep the water in the soil.
"My favourite thing to do in the garden is planting and my favourite food that we grow is strawberries," said Esme.
Vicki said: "Whether the children are digging for potatoes, sowing next season's crops or chopping fruit for the wormery, we hope their involvement in the growing club will lead to a lifelong passion for gardening."