Hi I’m Mr Craddock, Shafton Primary Garden Manager. 

I have been a teacher at this school for over 20 years. Last Spring I was approached to take over this role as I have an interest in gardening and I have been working at it ever since with the help of the ‘Green Fingered Gardening Gang’(our Years 5 & 6 Gardening club) and Mr Stuart Booth (a TA at the school with an interest in gardening and wildlife).

A Little Bit About The School Garden Project

This is an ongoing project, which started in Spring 2008, working on a limited budget with donations from local firms, parents, staff and friends.

The project is part of our ‘Healthy Eating’ Curriculum and it is for the benefit of all the pupils in school. Each class has its own planting and cultivating area and they are responsible for sowing seeds, watering and maintaining growth.

The main area was just a piece of grassland which has been modified considerably with the aid of some parent volunteers. In the space of one day, they followed the suggested design for the planting areas, dug over the ground and sowed some seeds. A fence was also constructed together with a bird feeding area. 

This was just the start of an exciting journey – read my BLOG to catch up and keep up with all the trials and tribulations, events and activities of an ever changing but quite remarkable school garden.

We’ll all be rooting for plenty of sunshine …………………

May 2009

On Friday 22 May a selection of pupils from each class and Key Stage will plant out their own special areas under the guidance of staff, support staff and Garden Gang members. Each class will then be responsible for maintaining their own areas and recording plant growth and requirements.

Rain, rain stay away we’ve got the Water Board here today ……………

May 2009

On Thursday 21 May Yorkshire Water Board will be sending 20 personnel in to school to re-plant several raised planters and borders as part of their 1,000,000 Green Fingers Campaign. They have also donated £500 to cover the costs of the compost, soil, plants and shrubs required to complete the work.

Couch potatoes – not this gang …………….!

May 2009

Several Year 5 pupils have now increased the ranks of the ‘Green Fingered Gardening Gang’ (as Year 6 were extremely committed to their SATs).

The ‘Gang’ is extremely keen and willing to be out in the garden whatever the weather! They have successfully planted out the following – potatoes, strawberries, runner beans, French climbing beans, leeks, onions, Italian and French lettuce, 3 varieties of beetroot, cabbage, red cabbage, cauliflower, spring onions, several herbs and garlic. Alongside most of these crops they have planted out ‘companion plants’ such as marigolds, chives and borage.

More reasons to shop at Morrisons …………….

April 2009

We have been very fortunate to receive the goods that were ordered from Morrisons after the pupils collected over 3000 vouchers. We took possession of 2 wheelbarrows, a garden fork and spade, a slim line water butt and stand, a weatherwatch station, a max/min thermometer and a garden rake.

Unwanted greenhouse finds a new home ……………….

April 2009

We also took ownership of a 6’ x 4’ aluminium greenhouse which a member of staff generously donated to me. It has now been fitted with poly-carbonate safety glazing and is, at present, housing our garlic and onion plants.

3 men + 2 days = 1 shed …………..

April 2009

During this month our garden shed finally arrived. The instructions stated that assembly was ‘easy’ BUT it took 3 DIY experts nearly 2 full days to assemble so I would hate to see a ‘hard’ instruction level!

More Certificates of Success …………………

April 2009

The ‘Campaign for School Gardening’ Level 3 certificate has now been achieved (and we received a set of Bulldog hand garden tools as a reward) and we are almost ready to send in the evidence required to achieve Level 4. As there are only 5 levels, we are hoping to be well on the way with the collection of evidence needed for the fifth level before the Summer break.

All set for a day with a RHS expert………………

March 2009

I have gathered the evidence needed to receive Level 3 (possibly Level 4) from the Campaign for School Gardens Initiative and, hopefully, the certificate/s will arrive in school in the near future. There are only 5 levels (and we are nearly at Level 5) and only a handful of schools throughout the country have achieved a Level 5! If we manage Level 5 before July I will be most impressed as the RHS send out an expert to work with the pupils for a day as a reward incentive.

We’re ready to ‘Try something new today’ ……..………

March 2009

Our most recent donation came from Sainsburys, who kindly donated 6 copies of their excellent book – Grow It, Cook It, Eat It – which will be used extensively by the Gardening Club members.

Building boxes will be a bit on the wild side………………

February 2009

During the recent holiday I visited Wentworth Castle for a course on bird box construction. An idea for building bird boxes was provided by Mr Paul Evison, the Parkland Officer at Wentworth Castle Gardens, and the Gardening Club members will be attempting to construct some very shortly! The ideas gathered will be used in school, with the Garden Club members and boxes will be constructed in the next few weeks. A member of the RSPCA will also be invited into school to help with construction and also work on some other wildlife boxes.

The ‘Greenhouse Effect’………………….??

February 2009

Two parents have approached me with the idea of building a plastic bottle greenhouse and when this idea was presented to the staff, during a staff meeting, everyone was in favour. A letter will be sent out to parents after we construct our garden shed as we need storage for approximately 1500 two litre plastic bottles!

Spring isn’t quite sprung yet but the purchases are growing strong………..

February 2009

We are waiting to purchase the garden shed, using funds from the Gardening Budget, but have just placed an order for a polytunnel and a raised bed planter. These items should arrive in school shortly. Other purchases (using funds from the Sponsored Spell) will be various plants, shrubs, seeds etc.

We are also awaiting delivery of all the items that were ordered from the Morrisons Voucher Scheme.

The Gardening Gang – do they have a recipe for success…………..?

February 2009

Another fundraising idea has been proposed by the Gardening Gang Committee. This is to create a simple recipe book. A letter will be sent out to all parents asking for any simple, nutritious recipes to be sent into school. The Gardening Gang will then use their IT skills to present these recipes in a bright, easy to understand way and then the Recipe Books will be made available for anyone to purchase. Monies raised will be used to develop the KS1 playground areas.

Yorkshire Water Board grant set to drown the garden in senses ……

February 2009

Since returning to school after the Christmas break we have pleasantly found out that we have been given a grant for £500 from the Yorkshire Water Board. This grant also includes a visit to school by a team from the Water Board where they will assist with removing shrubs, weeds etc from the area around KS1 playground and the planters in KS2 playground and then re-plant with an assortment of shrubs, bushes, plants etc. Some of the money will also be used to buy a wooden bench for KS1, which will be situated in the ‘new’ proposed area behind the Outside Classroom. This area will be developed as a safe play area together with areas dedicated to sight, smell, touch and sound. This work will, hopefully, begin/be completed within the next 2 months.

And finally ‘We can do it!’……..

October 2008

Our most recent acquisition was the greenhouse (provided by B&Q). This was constructed by myself, Mr Booth and Mr Ian Graham (who must have been an expert at Meccano in his youth)! Despite having all this expertise on site, construction still took 3 days! To say that the patience of Job was tested during this time is an understatement!

The Neighbourhood Pride Team make a visit and get their hands dirty………...

November 2008

We have had a visit from the Neighbourhood Pride Team - under the guidance of Mr Paul Jolley and Mrs Caroline Cromack – and together with 3 local councillors (Mr D. Gillespie, Mr D. North and Mrs D. Higginbottom) they helped over 30 pupils from both Key Stages plant an extra few hundred bulbs!

Announcing the Green Fingered Gardening Gang…………

September 2008

A Gardening Club (The Green Fingered Gardening Gang) has been formed with 22 of our Year 6 pupils. They chose the name by secret ballot and also chose a committee in the same way. The Club meets every Tuesday lunch (and whenever else we can, weather permitting) to maintain the garden and assist in any way possible.

Recently they have made some bird ‘cup cakes’ to provide nourishment for our feathered friends during the hardships of Autumn and Winter. They have also painted some ceramic pots in which some of our Spring flowering bulbs have been planted.

They can often be seen clearing the garden area of unwanted weeds, leaves and fallen crab apples – as they appear to enjoy composting! Last week, they could be seen planting out a collection of fruit trees, planting extra bulbs and sorting out our new greenhouse. They were also responsible (in pairs) for looking after a selection of pupils from each class in school when we had a mass bulb/vegetable/salad crop planting afternoon. Some exotic bulbs like Allium and Frittalis Snakeshead were planted alongside the more common Spring flowering bulbs together with Chinese Cabbage, Oriental Vegetables and Swiss Chard). Recently, the committee have come up with some good fund raising ideas - some of which will, hopefully, be implemented in the near future.

To continue with our bulb planting activities, every class has been provided with either ceramic or aluminium planters so that the children can plant and maintain their own bulbs.

Ongoing activities, such as tidying the garden area, sowing seeds for Spring/Summer and fruit tree planting will be continued until Christmas with the members of the Green Fingered Gardening Gang, a variety of pupils from all classes and the Garden Managers with support from TAs and parents.

Fund Raising – Outstanding Results!! …………...

January 2009

In December we held a very successful fund raising day. This took the form of a non-uniform day for which the pupils contributed £0.50 each. Alongside this was a Sponsored Spelling Activity in which the pupils were given either 10/15/20 words to learn (all linked to our Science Curriculum or Garden vocabulary) and a sponsor form to try to raise extra funds. The result was outstanding – we made over £1000. The funds were increased by 2 generous donations – one of £30 from Mrs Svetlana Safonkina (a parent) and one of £10 from Councillor D. Higginbottom who was visiting school on the day to hand out certificates to all the pupils who had assisted with the Pride in the Community bulb planting activity in our school grounds.

Frost Protection – the garden is under wraps……….…….

Autumn 2008

Since our return to school after the Summer Holidays many activities have been undertaken in and around our garden area. One of the main activities was the construction of some frost protection units which were kindly built and donated by Mr Ron Gagen (the husband of one of our Cleaning Staff). These have proved exceedingly useful over the last few weeks and have provided valuable shelter for the new batch of crops which have been planted, enabling them to become established in their own right.

Special Thanks ………..

Spring/Summer 2008

Two pupils deserve a mention – Alex Wray and his sister Abigail, who both donated lovely bird houses to be fitted to the trees in our bird/wildlife area. Many thanks to both of you.

A very special mention has to given to our ‘volunteer’ parents who gave up a lot of their own time and put in considerable hard work. In no particular order they are - Mr & Mrs Hutton, Mr Lockwood, Mr Wood, Mr Whittaker, Mr Hawkridge, Mr & Mrs Light, Mr Butler, Dave North and his brother John.

A very special mention has to be given to our ‘Resident Gardener’ - Clarrie Whittaker who comes and works with the pupils on occasions and gives sound advice with regard to planting out and maintaining the plot. Although I am reluctant to single out a single parent I MUST mention Mr Lockwood, who has given up a considerable amount of his spare time to help whenever help was needed. I am really grateful for his assistance, thank you.

Since this project began one member of staff has been very significant for his help and commitment. That person is Mr Stuart Booth. He has now taken on the role of our Gardening Club Manager and is constantly working with the pupils to devise ways to fund raise and improve/maintain our garden. During the Summer holidays he could be seen in school, on at least 3 or 4 occasions weekly, with his wife (Linda) and daughter(Julie), watering, tending for the plants and enjoying some peaceful moments of relaxation in our ‘Chill Out Corner’!

Donations Donations Donations ………..

June 2008

Work is underway and ongoing, mulching and gravelling the pathways are yet to be completed, an irrigation project is also underway and will be completed by the start of the Summer holidays so that plant growth can be maintained (part funding for this came from the School Council who kindly donated £65).

Special mentions are also needed for local individuals and firms –

Barnsley Building Society (who donated £150); they also awarded the school £250 from their ‘Pride in the Community’ budget.

Barnsley Buildbase (especially Mr Mark Winstanley) who donated £250.

The Grimethorpe Re-generation Fund who donated £100.

An award of £250 came from the Pride in the Community Group.

Mr Dave North (our former caretaker) and his brother, John provided the manual labour on our raised beds which started off this project.

Local landscape gardener Chris Pearsall provided all the timber for the planters and the garden steps.

The stone for the rockery and various contact possibilities were provided by Mr Dan Winters of Westmead Kennels.

A collection of compost bins and compost accelerant were provided by the grand-father of one of our pupils.

A greenhouse, base and staging were provided by our local B & Q (under their One Planet Living Grant award system) with the kind help of their grant co-ordinator – Sue Booth.

Mulching of the trees and branches, which had to be removed to provide space for the garden, was completed on a very wet Sunday afternoon (because of the possible danger to the pupils of the heavy mulching machine) by Mr Derek Croft and his son, Dominic (a former pupil who is now at an Agricultural College). Derek is a local Tree Surgeon and he has promised help in the future when any areas need clearing or tidying up.

Scaffolding boards (for the planters) were kindly donated by Mr A. Tattersall (Dale Scaffolding, Bradford) and Mr George Allen (partner of my sister-in-law, Hull).

Mr and Mrs Hutton (parents of a Y6 pupil) donated a beautiful cane parasol.

Mr Clive Ramsbottom provided (and installed) a housing unit for our outside tap and a safety warning sign for our main school gate. He also provided transport for the collection of the greenhouse and other heavy/large items.

Gravel and flagstones, for our paths, were provided by Mr Russ Odell (our IT technician).

Mr Sam Wassell (parent of a Y6 pupil) provided us with some large cardboard tubes, which were spray painted and sealed and then all the pupils in school drew their own portraits on the tubes. We named them ‘The Family of Shafton’. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed themselves but, unfortunately, the weather has beaten us and the tubes have had to be removed! He has also provided us with some lovely pairs of gloves for the pupils to wear whilst working outdoors.

A beautiful hand-made bird house/feeding station was provided by Mr Steve Butler (parent of 2 pupils) and the family also provided the initial supply of bird food.

We are very grateful for all these kind donations.