The Schools Gardening Competition is held every year and supports SALGA’s object, namely the advancement of education in horticulture and to promote, encourage and improve horticulture.
Early in 2023, emails were sent to 70 Primary Schools enquiring if they wanted seeds and inviting them to take part in the Swindon Schools Gardening Competition. Of these, 22 responded asking for seeds which were kindly donated by Kings Seeds and they each received a selection of 6 packets of seeds.
In addition, to try to help schools with gardening, a webinar was held in March to provide advice and support for schools and from this a WhatsApp was formed.
Of the 18 Schools that asked to take part in the competition, only 8 sent in photographs of their efforts and our judges, Janet and Chris, visited all of these. Each school we visited received a £15 voucher to spend at the SALGA shop. (Winners of last year’s vouchers commented on how this helped them buy new compost!)
We were impressed by the enthusiasm of staff and pupils at every school that we visited, and it was apparent that the children were involved and knowledgeable about the plants and their care. Judging between different types of schools with gardens of varying sizes is a challenge for the judges. For example, we saw two large gardens at Shaw Ridge and The Chalet School; each was productive and well used by pupils and staff.
Results of the judging are as set out in the table below.
School | Award |
Bishopstone CE Primary School | Highly Commended |
Millbrook Primary School | Highly Commended |
Westrop Primary School | Best Vegetables |
Shaw Ridge Primary School | Best Fruit |
St Francis CE Primary School | Best Flowers |
The Chalet School | The SALGA Endeavour Children’s Cup |
Eastrop Infant School | The Schools Trophy |
Where there are children with complex learning needs, more time is devoted to gardening. This was apparent at The Chalet School and the ARK at Millbrook School which had good quality plants. Meanwhile, in mainstream education, the demands of the curriculum mean that less time is available to fit in activities such as gardening but despite this the schools have been able to create successful gardens.