Growing Schools is a Department for Education project managed by FACE. Welcome to the Growing Schools Newsletter for Late Spring 2011 This issue features three competitions to challenge school creativity: you can produce a poster, design a mini-garden or create an Alice-in-Wonderland scarecrow. Scroll down to the end of the newsletter for full details. There are details of another excellent report extolling the virtues of outdoor education, this time from the Association for Science Education, and a wide range of highlighted resources on topics as diverse as growing your own loaf, going on a hedgerow safari and learning your way around the farm in French. At last it’s time to start sowing early flower and vegetable seeds and looking forward to growth and renewal in the garden. We hope you have a successful spring season. Rose and Tom, Growing Schools

News ASE report promotes science learning out-of-doors Outdoor Science, published by the Association for Science Education makes a powerful case for the value of the outdoor classroom for science, and makes six recommendations for increasing high quality teaching and learning through fieldwork. Read more Durham University Botanic Garden achieves Growing Schools Garden Award The latest member of the elite club of Growing Schools Gardens, Durham Botanic Garden also has the Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge and provides an ideal site to inspire children and teachers alike with the possibilities for outdoor learning in a garden setting. They even have sheep!Read more   Inspiring video from Ox Close Community Garden Three years in the making, this garden has forged strong links between Ox Close Primary School and the local community. The video shows celebrations at the garden centred around the local legend of the Spennymoor Ox, and the website charts the garden’s development.  Click here for a link to the website and video.

Events Diary Reminders from the last issue 10 Mar to 1 Jul RHS and Growing Schools CPD days Training days throughout the country on all aspects of gardening in schools. Don’t forget there are generous discounts for multiple bookings. Find a course near you. 14 Mar to 9 May Keeping Animals in your School CPD days provided through the School Farms Network. It has been possible to reduce prices so these courses are now just £50 per person. Read more 25-27 Mar Introduction to Permaculture, Deal, Kent How to use permaculture principles and practice. Read more 29-30 Mar Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) Rural Dimension Conference, Nottingham Trent University Featuring practical ideas on all aspects of enterprise through the rural dimension. Read more 9-10 April Bushcraft, Deal, Kent Learn key bushcrafts including fire building and shelter making. Read more   New Events Mar to Sep Site-based Education for Sustainable Development Online training course to masters-degree level from London South Bank University. Aimed at environmental educators who want to learn more about delivering ESD at an outdoor site. Read more. 7 Mar to 13 Apr Develop Gardening in Your School Free twilight CPD sessions organised by the RHS at ten schools across Cheshire and Greater Manchester. Read more 15 Mar to 15 Nov Food for Life CPD days A range of free courses across the country on aspects of organic food growing. Read more. 7 Jun Learning through Landscapes Conference, Newbury, Berkshire A conference exploring how to make the most of the outdoors for the under threes. There will be a mixture of presentations and practical workshops, and the keynote speaker is Jan White, an early years consultant who has written on the importance of the outdoors for babies and toddlers. Read more.

Resource Highlights Creative Arts booklet Environmental artist Ciara Healey uses natural materials for papermaking, storyboards and bookmaking – crafts that make ideal activities for learning outside the classroom. Her methods have now been detailed in a new FACE booklet. Read more Down on the Farm – in French! We rarely see farming resources linked to Modern Foreign Languages, so were pleased to find this for KS1 and KS2 from the West Sussex Grid for Learning. It comprises a series of lesson ideas and teaching activities in French designed to exploit a school visit to a farm, and includes such topics as animal sounds, poems and rhymes, the shepherd's year and farm shop products. Read more Food a Fact of Life resources for primary schools The British Nutrition Foundation together with DairyCo has just published a set of new resources featuring stories about four children exploring healthy eating, cooking and where food comes from. They are ideal for interactive whiteboards, have been tested in schools and are free and ready to use. Read more   Food a Fact of Life resources for secondary schools Understanding where our food comes from, and how it is produced, helps individuals make more informed choices about their diet. To support this aim, The British Nutrition Foundation together with DairyCo has developed a set of case studies focusing on dairy farming. Read more Hedgerow safaris OMSCo are offering free visits to organic dairy farms around the UK, where children can investigate mammals, plants and insects using fieldwork equipment and identification guides. These events touch on a wide range of KS2 National Curriculum requirements. Read more. New wildlife guides Three new beautifully illustrated mini field guides, packed with information for nature enthusiasts, have been published in association with The Wildlife Trusts. Easy-to-follow layouts and superb artworks enable quick and accurate identification. There are now five in the series: Garden Wildlife, Insects, Trees, Wild Flowers and Birds. Read more. Outdoor learning resources for pupils with special needs Two Growing Schools partners have been involved in producing resources to help pupils with special needs to benefit from outdoor learning. Gardening resources were produced during a year-long project involving the RHS and several schools in Sussex. They include choosing what to grow and sequencing cards for garden tasks.  Read more NAFSO(National Association of Field Studies Officers) have compiled inspiring examples of best practice in outdoor learning for all. Read more Real Bread Campaign launches new website Features of this revised-recipe virtual bread bin include:  • Bake Your Lawn: A free, grassroots guide to support teachers and parents helping children around Britain to sow a square metre of soil with a handful of wheat and grow it, mill it, bake it, eat it, to follow the Real Bread journey from seed to sandwich on their own doorsteps. • Lessons in Loaf: A free download for teachers on planning hands-on Real Bread-making sessions for any age, plus lesson plans to tie the topic of bread in with a range of curriculum subjects at KS2.  • Real Bread on the Menu: details of workshops to help public sector institutions and food access projects around Britain get baking Real Bread in-house. Read more.

Updates from Partners Bursaries available for School Farms Network conference If a little financial help would enable your school to attend this conference on 1-2 July in Minehead, Somerset you will be pleased to know there is now some funding to contribute to travel costs for existing farms, and those hoping to start rearing livestock. The organisers have also negotiated some reduced rates for local B&B. For more about the conference click here.  For more about funding phone 0117 923 1800 or emailadmin@farmgarden.org.uk. CFE Estate Open Days The Countryside Foundation for Education has announced their programme of Estate Open Days, operating in all regions of England in May, June and September. These open days provide an opportunity for schools to visit country estates and for the children to learn about what is involved in the management of such an estate and to meet the people who work there. An Estate Day can incorporate many themes of core importance in the National Curriculum, particularly Geography, History, ESD, Science and Citizenship, as well as providing everyone with a day out to remember. Read more. Funding for Learning Outside the Classroom projects NAFSO (National Association of Field Study Officers) has some funds which a member or potential member could use for a local/regional project to promote Learning Outside the Classroom and its Quality Badge, especially with a Growing Schools flavour and a sustainability angle as well. Projects are already underway in the NW, NE and IoW so successful applicants are most likely to be from other regions. The funds need to be spent or allocated before the end of March. Contact Chas Matthews at matthews.r.c@btinternet.com for more information. Nafso conference success The National Association of Field Studies Officers attracted 140 delegates to their Conference and Professional Development Event in January. Growing Schools bursaries were awarded to 14 people to help with the costs of attendance.

Competitions   Instaplanta Design a Poster competition The Instaplanta system uses large wooden planters with interchangeable planting pods, making it easy to involve lots of children in gardening, and produce an attractive display all year round. This competition asks children to design a poster, and there are three prizes, each consisting of two large planters, a transporter for the planting pods and a two-person work station, altogether worth more than £750. Click for more Container Gardens For Schools.   RHS Budding Gardeners While show gardens of all sizes and budgets are being prepared for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, RHS Gardens are inviting pupils aged four to 16 to create their own school show garden just 1m x 1m in size at one of the four RHS Gardens (Harlow Carr, Hyde Hall, Rosemoor and Wisley. The mini gardens will go on show from 28 May to 5 June, but application forms need to be received by 18 March.  Read more   RHS Scarecrow Competition for south-east schools The RHS are inviting pre-schools and primary schools in the south-east of England to create their very own Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures Scarecrow. Entries will be pre-selected from photographs in May 2011 for display at the Hampton Court Flower Show in July.  Read more Download entry form here

If you have any questions about visits or growing send your questions for possible inclusion in the next issue to: growingschoolsqanda@face-online.org.uk