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The Food Growing Schools: London (FGSL) partnership, led by Garden Organic and supported by the Mayor of London, brings together the very best of London’s food growing expertise, information and support, with the ambition to inspire and equip every school in London to grow their own food.
Since starting in 2013, FGSL has gathered extensive evidence of the benefits of food growing in schools; proving that it has a positive impact on children’s physical and mental health, as well as improving knowledge, skills and behaviour.
But finding the best ‘route’ into schools has been an on-going challenge and the ambition of bringing the benefits of food growing to every London school continued in 2017-18.
FGSL research shows that schools are using food growing as a teaching tool, with one in four linking it to the curriculum. Meanwhile, national research conducted by FGSL partner, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), looked more closely at the subject areas being taught in the school garden.
With this in mind, and in the context of increased pressure on schools to deliver on the curriculum and with reduced funds, we decided to explore this link further.
70% of the RHS Campaign for School Gardening members use the garden to teach the science curriculum – leading the way by a long way.1
Incorporating food growing into the science curriculum
Why focus on the science curriculum?
www.foodgrowingschools.orgGarden Organic | www.gardenorganic.org.uk | Registered Charity No. 298104
Food growing used as
teaching tool1 in 4
schools now link food growing to curriculum
activities2
1 Statistics taken from 10 years of the Campaign for School Gardening report video, https://youtu.be/w9UAEAtHFe4 , 20172 Jones M, Pitt H, Weitkamp E (2017) Food Growing Schools: London. Final Evaluation Report. UWE Bristol.
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Branching out: a new approach
Our offer to schools between 2013 and 2016 had focused on termly themed activities, training opportunities, support and free resources.
Our school contacts came via the FGSL survey, our partners and in some cases through the Mayor of London’s Healthy Schools initiative. But the capacity of Healthy School leads to promote food growing as part of their wide remit has varied across boroughs and can be limited.
If food growing can be incorporated into science teaching however, this presents another, perhaps more sustainable way to get more schools growing organically, given the importance placed on science as a core curriculum subject.
www.foodgrowingschools.orgGarden Organic | www.gardenorganic.org.uk | Registered Charity No. 298104
How does food growing fit into the science curriculum?
Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects are fast becoming the core of our education system, as a result of growing concerns over a STEM skills shortage. With this increased focus, outdoor learning has grown in importance, as Naomi Hiscock, Director of Primary Science Education Consultancy, explains:
“The science curriculum for year one, two, three and five all have statements about plants and food growing. In fact, you cannot deliver the new curriculum without capacity to grow plants to full maturity”.
Building “Science Capital”
FGSL research shows that food growing makes children more aware of nature, healthy eating and sustainability as they have ‘hands on’ experience of learning where our food comes from. This is in keeping with a new, increasingly popular teaching approach, where teachers help students build their “Science Capital”2 . This involves making science relevant to their experiences in the real world and not just a school subject.
Incorporating food growing into the science curriculum
Why focus on the science curriculum?
School Year
Statements from National Curriculum (2015)
Year One Children need to be able to ‘identify and name a variety of wild and garden plants’.
Curriculum ‘notes and guidance’ suggest that where possible they should observe the growth of flowers and vegetables that they have planted.
Year Two Children need opportunities to ‘observe and describe how seeds and bulbs grow into mature plants’. Cross curricular opportunity: Link this growing project with a cooking and nutrition project where the children will use some of their harvested crops to make some type of food product, for example vegetable soup.
Year Three Children should ‘explore the requirements of plants for life and growth (air, light, water, nutrients from soil, and room to grow) and how they vary from plant to plant.’
Tip: It is best to investigate using plants that grow quickly e.g. mustard, cress, rocket, mung bean, wheat, sugar snap peas.
Year Five Children need to be able to ‘describe the life process of reproduction in some plants’.
Tip: Children can observe strawberries growing that spread through runners and planting potatoes in sacks and seeing them multiply (a stem grows from the eye of a potato and new potatoes grow from this. The potato is a tuber).
Information extracted from the Primary Science Education Consultancy’s Whole School Gardening Guide, 2017, www.primary-science.co.uk/home/4550106448
2 Science Museum Group: A Science Capital Teaching Approach
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Growing Resources
Whilst there is no shortage of excellent teaching resources, there are very few that link food growing directly to individual aspects of the current science curriculum and it is not easy to find information for all year groups collated in one place.
Nick Ives, FGSL Engagement Officer explains:
“Science coordinators and teachers are a sophisticated audience that want to get right to the nuts and bolts of what’s involved in food growing. They’re too busy to take in all the extra ‘nice to have’ information that you often see in resources.”
In 2017, we developed a training session that shows how food growing can be used to teach a variety of scientific concepts, drawing upon a number of resources and activities.
Also identifying this gap, the Primary Science Education Consultancy developed a simple Whole School Gardening Guide in 2017 (see extract above), which is a fantastic resource for schools. There is an opportunity now for expertise and resources to be brought together to produce more curriculum-based food growing resources for primary schools.
www.foodgrowingschools.orgGarden Organic | www.gardenorganic.org.uk | Registered Charity No. 298104
Growing potential
Our work in 2017-18 uncovered a need amongst primary schools and helped us establish a relevant route into schools via science teachers and coordinators. School gardens play an important part in the curriculum and we can provide the practical resources to support that teaching.
Through our focus on science and by supporting Garden Organic’s work through Project Learning Garden, which is largely curriculum based, we have evidence that this approach can reap rewards for schools and pupils alike.
Initiatives such as Science Week, STEM days and the Primary Science Quality Mark, along with science leader networks and curriculum development teams in councils, present excellent channels to reach more schools, in a meaningful and relevant way.
“Nick gave us a great overview of food growing and how it fits with the curriculum, with a really helpful Term Time Planner.” “We believe gardening and food growing is really important and our pupils love growing things. What’s even better is when they eat the things they grow, they learn where our food comes from.”
Katie Adams, Year Six teacher and School Based Advisor for Science in Kingston and Richmond.
Incorporating food growing into the science curriculum
Why focus on the science curriculum?
Establishing roots
So far we have….
• Worked with Sheen Mount Primary School and Katie Adams - School Based Advisor for Science in Kingston and Richmond;
• Presented to over 30 primary school science leads in these boroughs;
• Reviewed and adapted our resources following pilot presentation
• Established connection with Wandsworth Curriculum Development team and Naomi Hiscock, Director of Primary Science Education Consultancy and Hub Leader for the Primary Science Quality Mark, a national award recognised by Ofsted;
• Presented to Science Coordinators in Wandsworth;
• Plans afoot to present to science coordinators in Hillingdon, Haringey and Southwark.
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Food Growing Schools: LondonPartner information
Garden Organic | www.gardenorganic.org.uk | [email protected] | 0247 621 7747
Garden Organic leads a group of organisations in the Food Growing Schools: London partnership. It is the UK’s leading organic growing charity dedicated to researching and promoting organic gardening. Garden Organic has been bringing the benefits of gardening to schools for over 20 years, helping students and communities access the benefits of growing food and engage in hands-on activities.
Food Growing Schools: London is a partnership initiative led by Garden Organic. Garden Organic, the working name of the Henry Doubleday Research Association, is a registered charity in England and Wales (no. 298104) and Scotland (SC046767).
www.foodgrowingschools.org
Capital Growth | www.capitalgrowth.org | [email protected] | 0207 065 0902
Capital Growth is London’s Food Growing Network, with over 2,000 members. Whether you are growing at home, at school or with a community group, join for free to receive benefits such as advice, discounts on food-growing training delivered via our network of London Training Hubs and invitations to participate in key events, including a School Marketplace at City Hall. Capital Growth is a project of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming.
Soil Association Food For Life | www.foodforlife.org.uk | [email protected] | 0117 314 5180
The Food for Life schools award programme is widely commissioned by public health teams and taken up by schools. The award is an independent endorsement for schools that support pupils to eat well and enhance learning. Our menu of teacher training courses was developed to give staff confidence and capacity to offer practical cooking, food growing and develop farm links. Training supports curriculum and promotes knowledge of healthy eating amongst pupils, parents and the community.
RHS | www.schoolgardening.rhs.org.uk | [email protected] | 0148 322 6517
Royal Horticultural Society Campaign for School Gardening encourages and supports schools to develop and actively use school gardens. Through the Campaign, the RHS provides teachers with a wide range of resources and an extensive programme of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) days and a School Gardening Award scheme.
School Food Matters | www.schoolfoodmatters.org | [email protected] | 0208 878 8333
School Food Matters’ mission is to ensure that every child enjoys fresh sustainable food at school and understands where their food comes from. Schools sign up for a one or three year membership programme to make the most of great benefits. Be first in line to participate in exciting food enterprise projects, receive expert advice on how to improve school meal service, host cooking or growing activities at school, enjoy discounts and more.
Trees for Cities | www.treesforcities.org | [email protected] | 0207 587 1320
Edible Playgrounds transform school grounds into vibrant outdoor spaces that excite and teach children about growing and eating healthy food. By instilling healthy eating habits at an early age, they help tackle obesity, food poverty and lack of access to nature, and provide a platform for fun and engaging lessons that support the school curriculum.
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