Growing Hope Garden
This year has marked the start of our Growing Hope Project in school. The Growing Hope Project follows the seasonal cycle of the year and uses it as a metaphor for growth and change that supports the children in coming to terms with their own changing circumstances. There is strong evidence to link gardening and connectivity to nature with improved mental and physical health.
The group has flourished and worked well together so far. The children have been busy making a bug hotel in the Growing Hope Garden. They worked together to gather different natural materials such as, dry grass, sticks, stones, wood and fallen leaves. This will provide a safe hideaway for wildlife.
We have also been learning how to care for trees. To estimate the age of the tree we measured the trees girth using our hands. We slowly walked away from the tree looking between our legs until we could see the top and bottom of the tree at the same time. Walking back to the tree we counted our paces to estimate the height of the tree. We explored different leaves and went on a hunt to find the trees they belonged to. The children observed bark on the trees and did bark rubbings. Then we looked at the wood from various trees and discussed what this might be used for.
