- Vote in the European Parliament Elections on 4 June
- Council to fly flag for armed forces
- Rape alarms available from police and Council
- Organic garden opens its gates
- Poetry, comedy and literature at libraries festival this summer
- Music and nature at the Stables Gallery
- Views wanted on policies to guide future growth of borough
- Council team takes up the bike challenge
- Walk the Thames
- New Mayor reopens Teddington Library
- Free parking in Richmond upon Thames on Monday
- Personal alarms available from police and Council
- Learning the Kunskapsskolan way
- New affordable homes to be built
- Council seeks new co-sponsor for Shene
- Your vote could help Orleans House Gallery win the £100,000 Art Fund prize
- By the light of the moon
- Making parks even better
- Get Fit in Castlenau Recreation Ground
- Football Club scores with Council
- Employee Awards for Power Candidates
- CPZ review
- Eat al fresco in Church Street
- Olympic gold medallist trains Richmond rowers
- Join in the fun at Heathfield Street Party on 16 May
- Meeting of young minds to become annual event
- Council supports IDAHO
- It’s stitching, but not as we know it
- How can we cut carbon footprint?
- Supper with Shakespeare
- Free adult learning taster sessions in borough’s libraries 9-15 May
- Kick off the summer with the Power Employment flower show
- Outdoor swimming pool opens for summer
- Standards Committee member wanted by Council
- Find out about Council services at Richmond Fair
- Comment on Shopfront Design Guide
- Your say wanted on how extensions are decided
- Pupils get ready to grow their own
- Volunteers are supporting community
- Borough smashes tree planting target
- Exclusively Richmond
Release Date: 05/05/2009
Pupils get ready to grow their own
Pupils at Trafalgar Infant School will be growing their own after Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins unveiled their new allotments, which they won in a borough wide competition.
Children from all schools in Richmond Upon Thames were challenged to make a 10 minute film by the borough-based School Food Matters organisation, led by Zac Goldsmith, and Richmond Environment Network, and Trafalgar Infants came top, thanks to their film about where potatoes come from and how they are used in food.
Their prize was a new allotment, shed and tools, provided by local firm Mears, whose staff built the allotment at the school in Meadway, Twickenham. It was be officially opened by Mr Collins and the Mayor Cllr Helen Lee-Parsons at a ribbon cutting on Friday.
Headteacher Lynne Thompson said: “We are thrilled to win. The children, along with their teacher, Nicky Jackson, thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and worked very hard. They will certainly enjoy the allotment and it will provide a source of learning for all the children for many years to come.”
The pupils were congratulated by Richmond Upon Thames Mayor, Cllr Helen Lee-Parsons, who was at the unveiling. She said: “By making this film, these children have learnt the importance of where food comes from, and that it is not ‘created’ in supermarkets.
“We’re very pleased to see youngsters learning about the world around them, it is extra-curricular work like this that makes the borough’s primaries the best in the country.”
Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins said: “The main reason Trafalgar won the competition was that the project was driven by the pupils, it looked like they had had a lot to do with making the video, and we could see how responsible they are for it. I would love to come back and see how they are getting on in a few months’ time.
“It’s important that outside becomes a classroom as well. The thing with gardening is that it is addictive, if schools sew the seeds in the childrens’ minds while they’re young. They will be interested for life.”
View the full press release