Two schools to receive our RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden

The School Food Matters Garden, funded by Project Giving Back, highlights and celebrates the importance of children’s access to nature. The relocated garden will provide an invaluable educational resource for the schools once the Show comes to an end. 

For 15 years, School Food Matters has been delivering food education programmes to schoolchildren and invited their partner schools to apply for the RHS Chelsea garden. Alec Reed Primary and The Beacon were selected for the impact the garden will have on their school community, and for great ideas about how to incorporate the garden into the schools’ grounds to be accessible to all and truly thrive. 

Alec Reed Primary School Head Teacher Ann Franklin says: “To hear we have won this competition for the School Food Matters Chelsea Garden for our school and community is wonderful, overwhelming and almost more than we can believe.

“Most of our children have very little outdoor space at home and all of our children are in need of a little extra TLC.  Winning this garden will provide the opportunity for our children to ‘tread gently and to go slowly’ amid the busyness of day-to-day life. The children will be able to find small pockets of inner silence which will allow healing and help them to feel more positive, productive and to be kind.

“Every class will have scheduled sessions in the garden, and they will also have group reading time there which will help them to destress and to relax. The children and community will have the opportunity to help with the garden itself, learning new skills, and how make and correct mistakes. In time this will support a growth mindset approach to life. The benefits are going to be infinite for adults and children alike and we would like to thank you wholeheartedly for this opportunity and gift.”

The Beacon’s Deputy Headteacher Emma Rowley says: “At The Beacon CE Primary, we are so happy we have been selected as one of the two schools who will receive the relocated School Food Matters Garden.  

“Not only will it benefit our Early Years children, but also our whole school community as our KS1 and KS2 children will be able to access this area from their playground every day.  It will also have huge benefits for our wider school community as many of our families walk this way during home time.

 “The amazing opportunities it will give the children will have an impact beyond their school lives into their adult lives.  It will support all of our children’s education - a real-life learning lab, right on our doorstep!  Children will greatly benefit from these kinds of first-hand experiences as our school is based in inner city Liverpool and many of our families do not have access to safe green spaces.”     

She adds: “Children will be able to grow their own vegetables in this area which will be amazing. They can become involved in planting, growing and caring for plants and vegetable. They can enjoy smelling herbs, pulling up carrots and picking tomatoes, and eating them. This will really support healthy eating and children trying new foods.  The practical, hands-on nature of gardening means that children will become strong, active learners.     

“The relocation of this garden will develop important habitats for wildlife in our local area, at a time when shrinking green space and climate change have taken its toll.  The garden will be an area to encourage bees, pollinating the flowers, plants and vegetables.  This in turn will bring more butterflies, insects and birds to the school.  The children will be able to watch the antics of birds and insects up close, interacting with the natural world around them. This will have a positive impact on their education, mental health and well-being.”