Whole class gardening

Last post 22-11-2011 1:59 PM by Stuart. 4 replies.

• 08/11/2011 09:35 PM

  Stuart Location: Manchester Joined on: 08 Nov 2011 Posts: 8

  Reply | Contact Anybody got experience of gardening with a whole class of 25-30 KS1 or KS2 children?  I'd be interested in your experiences, what went well, what didn't. I'm only used to working with up to 15 children but have been asked by a school to develop a plan to get their whole school involved in growing. I'm struggling a bit to involve the whole class.  Most classes have a TA so there is potential for splitting them into two groups.  cheers

• 08/11/2011 09:49 PM

  In reply to

  dizzyfizzy Location: dizzyfizzy Joined on: 17 Sep 2011 Posts: 15

  Reply | Contact Hello! My first reaction was woah! I teach KS1 and when we have done planting of seeds etc we have never had more than 6-8 per adult! If you are having 25-30 children make sure it is really planned and you have some early finishers activities ready. When we used to visit the garden/ veg plot, we never had more than 15. One thing i would strongly recommend is to have some wet weather back up plans with you whenever you plan to go! I guess it depends on what the final outcome/objective is - once you have this then it will be easier to plan - let me know and I'll see if I can come up with ideas. dizzy fizzy :-)

• 09/11/2011 09:08 AM

  In reply to

  Alison Findlay Location: Walsham Le Willows Suffolk Joined on: 15 May 2008 Posts: 47

  Reply | Contact this is a recurring question/dilemma I have when gardening in school as most teachers are working with classes of up to 30 and may not even have a teaching assistant in the afternoon!   I do work with whole classes by  having a carousel of activites for the session, and the chidlren rotating around the the activities. This also has the advantage of keeping the pupils interest ( each activity may last about 20 minutes). So for example  you can have a weed buster group - who are using hand tools to clear a bed. They could also be charged with creating a rogues gallery of weeds for all to see at the end of the session.  You could have a garden reporter group who are photographng and recording information about the garden today ( good literacy skills!). You can have a seed sowing group - workign closely with you to prepare and sow seasonal crops, then a wildlife detective group, using a spotter chart, magnifiers to exmine the inect life of the garden....If time allows then the chidlren can move on to take part in all the activities. The advantage of working with the whole class is they are all outside for longer rather than taking out a small group at a time for just 20 minutes. Less time is lost with change over. Also if you go outside on a regular basis children grow in confidence and familiarity with the garden and its seasons and tasks so soon the chidlren will be coming up with a list of activities and tasks they want to do. You can then dcicde between you what needs doing and again divide the class into safe manageble groups... Working with tools does have health and safety implications and the RHS recommends a high adult to pupil ratio. By dividing the class into small groups you can  keep the closest eye on the activity with tools ! The RHS Campaign for School Gardening has a r genreric isk assessment and lots of information and ideas - Good luck!

• 10/11/2011 11:06 PM	In reply to
  Location: Joined on: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 2,376	Reply | Contact Regardless of the age range. I have instucted adults, insitu, as working staff. This is strictly my own opinion. Skip for the time being all the text books. Get down to the basics.   Brief outline etc.   Followed ASAP by some practical, hands on, dirty muddy hands etc.   Sorry.  I am not a Sunday best suit type gardener.  Just get down to it.   Mike.

• 22/11/2011 01:59 PM	In reply to
  Stuart Location: Manchester Joined on: 08 Nov 2011 Posts: 8	Reply | Contact Thanks for the advice.Using a carousel of activities is a very useful suggestion. It's not me who will be working with each class by the way, the idea is to provide some initial support to teachersso that they then feel comfortable enough to take their own classes into the garden and greenhouse.