Medway Schools get growing as they work towards Food for Life Award

Food for Life schools in Medway have been busy growing and harvesting this spring and summer, whether on classroom windowsills, raised beds in the school garden or even in forest spaces.

Wainscott Primary school in Rochester have been developing their fantastic forest school space full of wildflowers like bluebells and poppies. They have also been growing veg and salad in the space, including lettuce, radishes, herbs and pumpkins – persevering despite cheeky foxes digging up the pumpkins!

Oaklands School in Chatham has been growing a variety of herbs and veg from seedlings indoors before transferring them into outdoor planters. The pupils have been experimenting with companion planting to deter pests without using pesticides, keeping the food they’re growing organic.

St James Church of England Primary Academy have been growing fruit and vegetables including tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, courgettes, runner beans, peas and potatoes which will be ready to harvest shortly. They’ve also been taking the opportunity to learn about wildlife and how important pollinators are to growing food, developing a wildlife-friendly area of their school field to encourage them.

Luton Primary have started a Gardening Club and are currently transforming the outside of Year 3 and 4 into a growing area for salad, vegetables and herbs. Within their Forest School area, the caretaker has created a composting area and Luton Primary have also developed a potato growing project this year, too, with much success.

Warren Wood Primary Academy are a great example of growing in pots and containers. They are growing strawberries, raspberries, pumpkins, lettuce, radishes, and cress. The pupils also enjoy making a rather unique mud pie recipe! The pupils have recently dug up radishes to try, and enjoyed some lettuce too.

These growing activities all link into the wider school curriculum, whether through the science of where a bean grows best or by using numeracy to count how many tomatoes have grown from plants.

Food education and linking it to the wider curriculum is an important part of Food for Life’s ‘whole setting approach’, which means a healthy food culture is embedded throughout all aspect of school.

If you’d like to find out more about Food for Life in Medway, please contact Grace Dennis on gdennis@soilassociation.org