Queen’s College pupils have been rewarded for all the hard work that they do to champion growing food sustainably, increasing biodiversity and protecting the environment across the school by being awarded the Royal Horticultural Society School Gardening Awards Level 1, 2 and 3 this Earth Day.
Prep pupils have received not just certificates but £100 of National Garden Gift Vouchers, lots of packets of Mr Fothergill’s seeds and three Royal Horticultural Society books for the school ‘The Little Book of Wild Gardening’, ‘Your Wellbeing Garden’ and a further book ‘How to Garden the Low Carbon Way’,
Level 1 was awarded for starting on the school’s gardening journey and getting growing food sustainably. Then the Level 2 award focused on supporting pupils’ wellbeing and developing new food gardening skills. It also provides an opportunity to show how pupil voice is a fundamental part of growing, caring for plants in the school and protecting the environment. Finally, Level 3 was awarded for extending the range of foods grown, keeping the plants healthy and using sustainable planet-friendly approaches when gardening for food at school.
The awards were presented to the pupils this week on Earth Day 2024, which is an annual global event that aims to highlight the importance of protecting our environment and of sustainability, encouraging us all to do something for a healthier planet and foster a deeper connection with nature.
“We are passionate about growing food and learning about the biodiversity and sustainability of growing food at Queen’s College,” said Mr Mann, Head of Art, Design and Food. “We are so pleased that the fantastic team of enthusiastic pupils in the Eco Group in Prep School at Queen’s College, led by one of our passionate Prep Teachers, Mrs Wade, has won these prestigious awards.
It is inspiring to see the Eco Group from Prep School each week, together with the Growing Food Group in Senior School, taking the responsibility and ownership of running the School Kitchen Garden and operating a school polytunnel with our keen school Grounds Team to sustainably grow their own fruit and vegetables for our classroom Food and Nutrition lessons. In addition, the pupils have improved the biodiversity of the school environment by helping plant hedges, rewilding, creating bug hotels, making bird boxes and feeders and much more. These awards are much deserved in recognition of the work our pupils do across the school at Queen’s College in growing food sustainably and fostering their own deeper connection with nature”.
