RHS BRITAIN IN BLOOM advice sheet See tips from groups How to… work with schools There are usually lots of opportunities for community gardening groups to work with and support their local schools. This might be by helping out with gardening activities taking place during term time (i.e. by giving advice on growing vegetables/ sowing wildflowers in the school garden) or by helping to water pots or vegetables during the summer holidays. Alternatively, it could involve working together with a school group on a gardening project out in the community, which could form a school project for the pupils. Schools are always keen to forge links with the local community and will be interested to hear from you. When working with children and young people, groups must ensure that they are doing so in accordance with the law with regards to child protection and safety. This might involve volunteers needing to take a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check; however often this is not required where children are accompanied by their teachers. For guidance on this issue please contact your national volunteering body: Volunteer England; Volunteer Development Scotland; Wales Council for Voluntary Action; or the Volunteer Development Agency in Northern Ireland. The RHS Campaign for School Gardening provides free support and training to schools to help them create and actively use a school garden. Community groups can recommend the campaign to their local schools for free and then support and mentor the school as it creates or develops its garden. Tips from groups Linking with curriculum-based activity is more likely to gain approval / buy in from head teachers. Children love to learn through activity so even something as simple as seed planting can be linked back to numeracy: distance between seeds, length of row, how long until ready to harvest etc. (Hunmanby in Bloom) Get in touch with schools and contact the teachers, teaching assistants and Special Educational Needs staff who have an interest in gardening. Attend school fairs to promote your group’s activities. We work with three primary schools, the local sea cadets and childcare students from the FE College. We regularly visit the schools to build mini beast hotels, plant trees and bulbs, help with gardening clubs, make willow tunnels etc. In turn, the schools visit our Local Nature Reserves for a variety of activities – pond dipping, nature walks, wildflowers and art, measuring the speed, flow and depth of the river, building dens, weaving string patterns between trees etc. In one primary school, a group of children have become so keen on conservation activities that they have created their own “Mini Mauns” at school. They have carried out a litter-picking activity, taken photos and prepared a presentation to deliver at assembly to try and encourage pupils to bin their rubbish and not to leave it on the school playing fields. (Maun Conservation Group, IYN) Some of our members recently visited the local comprehensive school to advise and help a group of students begin an allotment. (Aldershot Allotments Association, IYN) We engaged with schools to create meadows within the school grounds and also tree planting within the local parks. The schools often have funds available for these kinds of activities which sit very well within the school curriculum. (Oldham Council, Oldham in Bloom) RHS BRITAIN IN BLOOM advice sheet Go into the individual schools rather than send letters or e-mails as they don’t tend to read literature. Do projects that are educational so that the teachers can include them as part of the curriculum. Say to schools that you are involving the press as schools like press coverage. (Wrexham County Borough Council) Offer to set up a gardening club or, if there is one already, make sure you visit them on a regular basis to give help, tips etc. (Chipping in Bloom) The work must be suitable for the children; it has to keep them entertained and importantly excited - they will thrive on new experiences. (Grange Park Community Group, IYN) Scouts, Guides etc. are all working for Duke of Edinburgh badges - offer your projects or parts of them towards their awards. (Ross-in-Bloom) Ask for ideas from them and how your group can help. Then get grants/sponsorship for specific projects. (Caistor in Bloom) Ask them for advice and involve them in your projects. The students are tomorrow’s citizens so see their involvement as an investment in the future! (Kensington Road Residents Association, Bristol, IYN) We have built up good relationships with staff who are interested in green issues. Over the years we have invited groups from the school to plant an ornamental hedge, sow a wildflower meadow, be involved in our annual wildlife activity mornings, and help with designing and creating a mosaic. Good press coverage reflects well on the school too, and is useful evidence of community involvement for the Ofsted inspection! Another school was looking for help to create raised beds to grow vegetables, and two of our team now volunteer there one morning a week. (St Luke’s Church, Crosby, IYN) We discovered that the Brownies do a number of badges where we could help. In the last 12 months we’ve helped them complete two - Gardening and Wildlife - which have given the girls and their leaders the chance to help us with planting as well as to enjoy a great summer’s evening stream dipping with another Bloom group. We’ve also been able to help secondary school pupils complete a technical / biology project. The brief was to create a low maintenance flower bed outside the doctor’s surgery to raise the spirits of patient. They designed a raised bed, built and planted it with drought tolerant plants. A second one will be built by the new Year 8s in September. We provided the funds for these projects but if we’d had more time to plan, this is the sort of project that grant funding would suit well. (Hunmanby in Bloom) .