March 2010
13 & 14 March, Festival of Outdoor Learning, Hollowford Centre, Castleton, Derbyshire. Gordon MacLellan from Creeping Toad says “I went last year and found it lively, informal and challenging - a good chance to see what other people are doing and talk about it!”. Booking: Please contact Hollowford on 01433 620377 or email jess@hollowford.org for further details and a booking form.
February 2010
23 February, Education in the Outdoors event in Sheffield, presented by the Countryside Recreation Network.
9 February, 6.30pm, The Garden Classroom's Annual General Meeting at King Henry's Walk Garden. If you’d like to attend, please rsvp to info@thegardenclassroom.org.uk.
December 2009
Secretary of State for the Environment, Hilary Benn, attended a Garden Classroom session at King Henry's Walk Garden on 7 December.
He said "I had a very enjoyable time at the Garden Classroom and was really impressed with the enthusiasm shown by the pupils from St Jude’s & St Paul’s Primary School who were looking at worms, slugs and beetles. The Garden Classroom is a great project that is helping local children to understand the importance of looking after the natural environment around us. It clearly plays a significant role at the heart of this community in Islington, and it’s a tribute to the hard work of everyone involved."
Click here to see some photos of the visit.
November 2009
Teachers at Highbury Quadrant Primary School have given positive feedback on the Garden Classroom Outreach Pilot funded by Islington's East Area Committee (see News, August 2009). Miss Deeny, Year 3 teacher, said the programme was "relevant to the curriculum and pitched at the right level for the children. Very enjoyable and worthwhile. Thank you!" Pupils agreed: "This is the best ever!" (Megan) and "Thanks for teaching me stones because I had difficulty with my science project book" (Redri).
When asked if the children enjoyed the session, Mr Harrigan, Year 4 teacher, said "Very much. Eye-opening for them." On seeing strawberries still growing in the garden, Ryan (Year 4) exclaimed "Whoa! This is well sick!" - praise indeed!
October 2009
Darwin Trust training was run at King Henry's Walk Garden on Friday 3rd October. This is the first time Darwin training has been held in Islington. Click here to find out more ...
September 2009
The Garden Classroom has been awarded the Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge as a recognition of their commitment to engage in an ongoing process to sustain high quality learning outside the classroom and to meet all of the Quality Badge indicators.
August 2009
Islington Council's East Area Committee has given The Garden Classroom a grant to outreach to more local primary schools and encourage them to attend educational sessions at King Henry's Walk Garden.
July 2009
The Edible Islington Blog goes live . . . click here to read the blog.
June 2009
The Garden Classroom will be delivering a one year Local Food project involving three primary schools from June 2009. The three schools involved are Hanover, St Jude's & St Paul's and Newington Green. Each school will participate in Local Food growing workshops both on the school site and at two community gardens: King Henry's Walk Garden and Culpeper.
May 2009
The Garden Classroom and the Charles Darwin Trust are working together on a project involving training of TGC's facilitators and Year 4 teachers from Hanover, St Jude's and St Paul's, and Newington Green Primary Schools. There will also be a trip to Down House (home of Charles Darwin) in April 2010.
April 2009
25 April, 1pm to 3pm. Wildlife and gardening workshops provided by The Garden Classroom at King Henry's Walk Garden. Drop-in practical fun for the whole family.
March 2009
As sponsor of the schools category in this year's Islington in Bloom competition, The Garden Classroom was interviewed by the Islington Gazette. Click here to read the article.
February 2009
Special screenings for schools of The Secret Garden organised by The Garden Classroom at the Rio Cinema, Dalston.
February 2009
The Royal Horticultural Society gave its seal of approval to The Garden Classroom by adding it to its list of resources for teachers in London, as part of its Campaign for School Gardening.
December 2008
The Garden Classroom made history by holding the first ever education workshop at the West London Synagogue Cemetery in Kingsbury Road, created in the 1840s. The workshop was on rocks and weathering for Year 4 children. The Synagogue and the Ecology Centre who manage the site were delighted that local children had the opportunity to visit the cemetery, which is a haven for wildlife as well as a site of great historical interest.
