Pupils at St Charles Primary School, W10…
June 16, 2016
Pupils at St Charles Primary School, W10, are enjoying fresh fruit and veg that they have grown themselves after garden planters were recently installed by the Council’s Gardening Team. Crops of strawberries, radishes, lettuces and tomatoes have been planted and grown and have literally given the children a taste for gardening and an enthusiasm for home grown fruit and veg.
The new garden is to be formally opened by the Royal Borough’s Deputy Mayor Councillor Will Pascall and Deputy Mayoress Councillor Sarah Addenbrooke on Thursday 16 June. They will tour the school gardens with the head teacher, Ann Slavin, & assist in ribbon cutting with the children. Famous chef and restaurant owner Sally Clarke, supporter of edible school gardens, will also be joining the children with some of her wonderful baked savoury treats from her local artisan bakery.
St Charles is one of ten Royal Borough primary schools that is receiving regular lessons in gardening thanks to funding from the Council’s Public Health team. The project promotes healthy eating and also encourages the children to be active.
The Community Interest Group Food Explorers is currently running a week of educational sessions and field trips to raise awareness of healthy food and also so that the children can learn where their food comes from, how to cook and grow it as well as getting inspired to make healthier everyday food choices
A gardener from the Hammersmith Community Gardeners’ Association has worked with the children and teachers to help them develop the gardens and provide on-going support and advice.
Head teacher, Ann Slavin says: “I am absolutely delighted that our children are being given the opportunity first hand to experience and see for themselves the fruit and vegetables that we can grow in our school. For our younger children, they can see that this food is grown in the ground and not in the chilled section of our local supermarket.
“I would like to pay tribute to Jenny and Alison our ‘Food Explorers’ who have planned an amazing week for us which has included visits to a city farm, Whole Foods Market Kensington and Wagamama. While we have been gardeners for some time at St Charles, thanks to Josephine Khlaf, this has given us renewed impetus.”