Harold Wood Primary School Gardens

Just take a look at these beautiful pictures from the Harold Wood Primary School Gardens and here is the story behind them……

My background is I’m a parent volunteer who used to teach in Redbridge. I’ve always had a passion for outdoor learning, gardening and wildlife. I believe it has a very positive effect on people’s mental health, sense of self worth and increasing environmental understanding and knowledge of the world around us.

I’m very fortunate that the school are very supportive of my ideas and have allowed me to develop one side of the field into a series of gardens. We now have a wildlife garden and meadow, teaching garden with a beautiful storyteller chair (that a grandparent made for us) and allotments. I’m also developing the existing orchard area and my next plan is to create a sensory garden.

The wildlife garden was begun last term as a topic link with Y5 (although I had previously planted a native hedgerow, pre-covid, with my birdwatching club). The children worked really hard to load and fill each of the 26 boxes with topsoil, ready to create a nectar bar. They planted and sowed seeds, weeded and laid mulch. They have particularly enjoyed watching the wildlife arrive in our pebble pond and filling the bug hotels (Bugingham Palace and Wings-or Castle!). The best part of the project was seeing how children’s curiosity grew and fear of spiders and other invertebrates lessened. It has been the perfect antidote to a difficult 18 months.

It has been wonderful to see how the whole school has been making use of the new outdoor space. We are also very grateful to the community for all their wonderful plant donations. This is about the whole school’s well-being and fits beautifully with their REACH ethos (respect, equality, achievement, curiosity, happiness).

Priscilla Westcott

This is excellent effort by Priscilla and in turn this contributes to our environment and the field which was previously overrun by thistles, is now something more diverse and beneficial to all. We would certainly like to thank Priscilla for all her hard and tremendous works. Hopefully once the sensory garden and orchard area is completed, we will ask for an update.