The Serge Hill Project offers resources to local primary and secondary schools, youth organisations and mental health charities, as well as local residents who want to get involved in gardening. In our first year, we have worked with local primary and secondary schools and it has been joyful to see children of all ages and abilities exploring The Plant Library, collecting flowers, harvesting crops, drawing insects, eating herbs and engaging with the natural world on every level.
Learning Support Workers, Denise and Paula from Breakspeare School have shared their experience of visits to The Serge Hill Project in 2024.
'Our weekly visits to the beautiful natural setting of The Orchard at the Serge Hill Project are always met with excitement by both students and staff. We grew from seed at our school: sunflowers, pumpkins, squashes, and runner beans, and with the help of gardener Jake, transplanted our seedlings into an allotment that had been kindly allocated to us. Jake demonstrated how to plant radish seeds directly into the soil and the students followed his instructions correctly.
It is pleasing to see the students benefiting in so many ways, through interaction with the gardeners and other staff, being outside in a therapeutic setting, participating in the lifecycle of plants and insects whilst enjoying delicious home grown produce!
We appreciate having access to The Apple House, using the kitchen to make vegetable soup with our produce which is so delicious that students often ask for more than one helping! We also have plenty of space to do craft activities using natural materials.
It has been rewarding for school staff to witness students experiencing spontaneous improvements in their communication whilst at The Serge Hill Project and we believe that this is a result of being immersed in such a stimulating, fascinating and enriching natural environment, encouraged by friendly Project staff. We are all deeply grateful and proud of our part in this project - it is improving the wellbeing of school staff and students alike and provides quality evidence towards student qualifications and targets. Thank you so much to The Serge Hill Project!'