Restoring a derelict growing space and orchard to teach pupils food-growing and biodiversity skills.
The Alba Explorers, St Francis PS
Go To WebsiteAddressed Challenges:
- Health and Wellbeing
- Food Security and Supply
- Biodiversity Loss
Action Areas:
- Biodiversity and Nature
- Land Use, Food and Agriculture
Initiative Purpose:
- Mitigation and Adaptation
The Story
At St Francis Primary School, five overgrown, disused growing beds and a five-tree fruit orchard in very poor condition sat unused. This project brought them back to life. Over 45 sessions across 15 days in Term 4 2025 and Term 1 2025/26, 2 different specialist instructors worked with three groups a day, including whole classes and multiple ASN support groups, teaching pupils to plant, grow, and harvest their own food.
The five beds were dug out and replanted, and pupils built a new large hugel bed from scratch. The harvest included tomatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers, potatoes, onions, garlic, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, red currants, and lettuces, with a particularly strong pumpkin crop. The five existing fruit trees were heavily pruned and nursed back to health over many sessions, and two new plum trees were added to the orchard, allowing a harvest of berries for jam-making.
Produce went home throughout the season with pupils, parents, and staff. Pupils turned surplus blackberries, gooseberries, and red currants into jam, shared with the whole school alongside crackers. Onions went home and were made into soup, and were also fried up and eaten on toast with wilted dandelion leaves picked from the grounds, giving pupils a direct, sensory link between growing and eating. For Halloween, pupils built scarecrows from recycled clothing and used them to protect the crops from birds.
Many of the pupils involved come from low-income households and some have no garden at home, so the school is their only real opportunity to engage with nature in this kind of hands-on, skills-focused way. That's exactly the gap this project was designed to close.
The impact has extended well beyond the funded sessions. The growing area is now in regular use by whole classes across the school and multiple ASN groups, and an annual parents' morning at the market garden has been scheduled for every September going forward, giving families a standing opportunity to see and share in what pupils have grown.
Parents have also started volunteering to water and maintain the produce over the summer holidays, and members of the local community who hold nearby allotments have begun offering their time and expertise to support further development of the space. What started as a 45-session funded programme has grown into a self-sustaining, community-supported space that pupils, families, and neighbours are now maintaining together, with the September parents' morning as its ongoing centrepiece.
Success & Outcomes
We met and exceeded the targets we set. At the beginning of the project, pupils had very limited knowledge of fresh fruit and vegetables. Many did not recognise common produce such as cucumbers or onions, were unsure where food came from and were reluctant or afraid to taste vegetables.
By the end of the project, pupils could confidently identify and name tomatoes, pumpkins, beetroot, cucumbers, potatoes, onions, garlic, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, redcurrants and lettuces. They understood how these foods are grown, what they look like before harvesting and how they taste.
This change was achieved through restoring an overgrown allotment, bringing 5 large planters back into use and creating a sustainable hügel bed. Pupils learned to use hand tools safely, prepare the soil, sow seeds at the correct depth and spacing, care for crops and harvest the produce.
The most significant outcome was the change in pupils’ attitudes towards vegetables. Pupils who had initially been hesitant to try fresh produce became enthusiastic about tasting what they had grown, regularly asked for more and showed a strong interest in growing food themselves. Some also took produce home, extending their learning and enthusiasm to their families
Advice for others looking to do something similar
Be prepared for the extent to which many children have had very limited exposure to fresh fruit and vegetables. Some may not recognise common produce and may be strongly reluctant to taste anything green or unfamiliar. Staff delivering the project should therefore be patient, encouraging and appropriately persistent in helping pupils overcome these barriers, build confidence and develop a positive interest in healthy food.
It is also essential to establish strong relationships with school staff and agree clear arrangements for the ongoing care of the growing area. Projects of this kind can quickly lose momentum if responsibility for watering, weeding and general maintenance is unclear. Close coordination with staff and pupils will help ensure that the area remains productive and that the benefits of the project continue after the initial delivery period.