NEWS

The following is a copy of an article written by Juley Merret and appeared in Eco Design Vol. VII no.1

budding gardeners

Collingham Gardens Nursery is a Day Care Nursery of charitable status, for children aged between two and five, located in the busy urban area of Kings Cross in London.

We are lucky enough to have a fairly large enough outdoor space that is not tarmaced over. Our outdoor space, in fact, an old graveyard, but with the blessing of the local reverend, the staff, children and volunteers have been transforming our barren muddy patch into a thriving green, ecological learning environment.

Over the past two years we have made a herb patch, grown potatoes, carrots, radishes, broad beans, peas, lettuce and onions in old car tyres. We have planted pear, apple and plum trees, currant bushes, goose-berries, blackberries, loganberries, and strawberries. We have planted large beds with native English hedgerow plants and other wildlife-attracting species. We have built a compost heap, a living willow play-house, and a woodchip entrance path. We have saved and replanted shrubs from a nearby building site, and built a den from a salvaged materials.

Few of our children have gardens or much access to nature. The idea of the project is not only to create a green environment, but that the process of creating our garden environment is a great educational and life experience for the children. Through working in the garden the children have a chance to make a connection with nature - a gift that is precious for a child living in the ineer city. They have a chance to be involved and learn about nature's cycles, to get their hands dirty, to meet bugs and worms and birds.

It is also very positive for them to feel that they are involved in "real adult" work; they gain great confidence when they realise they can make such a large physical positive effect on their environment - digging and moving earth about is a great favourite!

Georgette Davis, who runs the Nursery, and I, both have backgrounds in early years education, design and permaculture, but we are no gardening experts! The process is a learning experience for everyone, and we feel it is healthy for the children to see each activity as a creative process in itself, rather than learning to think that things are either successes or failures. People shouldn't be put off by thinking they don't know how to do something!

all the work in our garden also contributes and enriches the key areas of learning in the pre-school sector: personal and social development, physical development, math's, language and literature, knowledge and understanding of the world, and creativity. This is always important for Early Years providers to be able to demonstrate to their Authorities. We also run a training session about our project for the Camden Early Years Sector, to which we get a great response - I think there are a lot of nursery workers out there who would love to get a bit greener and just need some help and advice.

This sort of project is vitally important in beginning the process of environment education for our children. An education that is essential: for them to have the skills of understanding nature and how to work with nature, so that they can be equipped to deal with the 21st century.

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