St Georges CofE Community Primary School

We have been working with We Can Grow at St George's for over a year now, and the impact on our children has been significant. The childrens  knowledge and understanding of plants is excellent, and they love being out in the allotment each week seeing the results of their hard work.

Each session is well-planned and links to the national curriculum, so it perfectly complements any work in class. There are also links with other areas of the curriculum such as data handling which again is so effective in a real-life situation. We Can Grow have been brilliant working with our staff to tailor sessions to our children's needs and to incorporate our school priorities and drivers (Reach For The Stars; Healthy Body Healthy Mind and The Natural World). 

As a result of weekly sessions, we have been able to cover the National Curriculum requirements for plants in science in a practical way, with opportunities to revisit learning and understanding in a way which would not be possible in the classroom, and our coverage of plants has been taken entirely out of the classroom context except for opportunities for cross curricular writing.

Extending children's vocabulary is a key focus for our school, and this is the perfect opportunity to learn, rehearse and recall vocabulary in a real-life context. Our children’s understanding and use of precise scientific vocabulary has really improved as a direct result of our work with We Can Grow.

 The effect of working outside with nature also has a great impact on our children's mental wellbeing, as well as expanding their understanding and experience of the natural world - they are so proud and excited to taste what they have grown, and to share with the rest of the school community, including our school kitchen. We have seen these children be more prepared to eat a range of foods at lunch time due to their experiences in the allotment. 

 We Can Grow sessions are always interesting, engaging and purposeful - our children love them and look forward to them every week. There are opportunities to use technology and a fantastic range of resources that as a school, we just wouldn’t be able to provide. We have now extended our work with We Can Grow to include sessions with KS1 and EYFS to maximise the impact on our children.

 

I would highly recommend We Can Grow to any school!

Katy Vaux

KS2 Leader Year 4 Teacher