The Growing Children garden project at Tattenhall Park School has continued to develop since its beginnings in March 2023.

The project began as an extension of the TT Mini Meadows initiative to boost local biodiversity and help children learn about nearby nature. 

From sowing annual wildflower seeds with the youngest children and potting up Spring bulbs the project has developed way beyond our initial aims.

The project, run entirely separately from the school budget, has benefitted financially from annual National Transition and Parish Council grants. Residents and businesses have contributed funds, resources, expertise, and volunteer hours.

Growing Children operates mainly as an activity for children at the end of the school day. We run from February to the end of October and offer opportunities for children to take part in many varied ‘growing’ activities and to learn about ways to support local biodiversity. The after-school Garden Club remains popular. A new group of keen 7-10 year olds join us half termly. In 2025, our volunteer team expanded when we were joined by  Judy Meredith and Barbara Denyer.  We have gained expertise in biodiversity, improved gardening skills, and new activity ideas.  

In addition to wildflower seed sowing, the youngest children have taken part during the school day in an increased range of growing activities- the Gardeners of the future! They show great enthusiasm and active participation.  We aim to further expand this provision in collaboration with EYFS staff.

Our scope for providing sowing, growing and harvesting activities has broadened over the two years. As well as the Memorial Garden with a raised bed and greenhouse, the children now also have experience of multiple large planters around the school and a pumpkin patch.

The original mini meadow areas in Early Years are still in use and have been joined by two new areas. We have shifted our focus from annual to perennial wildflower plants for longer-term benefits. 

By summer’s end, the children learned about the plant life cycle by harvesting seeds to begin the process anew.

A brief overview of new initiatives for 2025 includes Tattenhall Show award winning aubergines, peppers, carrots and chard.

Strawberries were made into jam and homegrown pumpkins into cake, both enjoyed by the children.  Produce from the garden has been donated to Tattenhall Free Pantry (a TT initiative) and offered out to parents and staff. An abundance of Victoria plums was offered out for the village to collect-kind donations for this have enabled purchase of Winter plants and Spring bulbs. 

The children have been collecting Autumn leaves and learning how leaf compost can be used in the future.

Compost bins have been emptied and used on planting areas.

Rainwater is collected and used for watering and a focus on using recycled resources are positive messages for children going forward.

Within our weekly activity planning we aim to increase children’s awareness of how the school grounds can support the protection of local trees and wildlife (birds, hedgehogs, insects) and provide protected habitats to encourage biodiversity. 

The Eco Council partnered with the Growing Children project for a 'Cook Off' contest, requiring participants to use at least three school-grown ingredients.  As a team we were thrilled to be a part of this and hope that there are many more ways that the school can build growing and gardening into the curriculum in the future.

The Summer climate of 2025 has been challenging due to the high levels of watering required by our volunteers and one member of school staff. There has also been a reduction of natural light in the memorial garden due to prolific overhanging hedges. The whole garden area needs reviewing and changes made to the raised bed. We hope to work in partnership with the school staff to solve any issues so we can go forward with the project into 2026. 

You can read a review of the Growing Children project by the Headteacher here