In March, 1st & 2nd Class began their class project to plan, plant and perfect their own class garden, as part of the Woodie's Budding Gardeners Programme.

The project had three phases: Sow it, Grow it, Show it. The boys and girls showed great interest and enthusiasm throughout this project, and enjoyed all the work involved in growing and caring for their class garden.Have a look at their wonderful work!

Phase 1: Sow it.

The children began by planning and planting a class garden that measured 1.5m wide and 1.5m long. They thought it would be nice to have a garden in the small area between our classroom and the Senior Infants room. Our caretaker Miley very kindly made a raised garden which was perfect for the children to work with! They decided to plant a mixture of vegetables and flowers, and were busy designing the layout of the garden. They planted broccoli, lettuce, mint, strawberries, and a mixture of flowers.

Phase 2: Grow it

The class learned all about the life cycle of plants, and what they need to grow. We assigned a different pupil each day as our Head Gardener.Their role was to check the garden and make sure the plants were getting enough water. 2nd Class measured the growth of each plant and drew a graph of their results. While the vegetables and strawberries had grown really well, the flowers were a little slow to get started!

Phase 3: Show it

After all the hard work sowing and growing their garden, it was finally time to show it! The pupils decided to add some finishing touches to their garden. They decorated wooden spoons as labels for each plant, removed any dying foliage and painted the wood to make it a little more colourful.They worked together to complete their final poster and all three were submitted.

The class have really enjoyed taking part in their gardening project. They showed lovely teamwork skills and great initiative. We hope that some of the vegetables will be ready to gather and take home before the school holidays!