Hollybush Community Allotment

Aim

To create a school allotment to grow our own vegetables and fruit. We'd love to sell to families in the community for an affordable price.

Hollybush is a community school based in the leafy town of Hertford.  We pride ourselves on our calm, friendly and inclusive atmosphere which allows all children to flourish and achieve their potential. 

The area in which the school is located has the highest proportion of children living in poverty in East Hertfordshire. We have a high level of pupil premium children at 38% and children with additional needs make up 23% of our roll. 

Some pupils live in flats or have limited access to gardens and some children just need or enjoy extra time outside with nature. Many of our children show huge excitement and enthusiasm for outdoor learning which they then take back with them into the classroom. 

Those with mental health needs have found our gardening club calming as it gives them a therapeutic activity away from the classroom. 

In 2021 we were lucky enough to be looking after some chicken eggs. They hatched! Along came Waddle, Brian, Penny and Primrose. The children volunteer to be 'young farmers' and take turns to look after the chickens and we are lucky enough to share the eggs they lay. This year we received some duck eggs, and guess what? They hatched! Along came Queenie, Cracker, Bandit, Daisy and Betty . They live in our wildlife garden where they have access to a pond and places to explore.  The whole school love having the ducks and chickens to care for, they also eat our vegetable scraps from the school kitchen. 

We want to go bigger! We want to expand to growing our own fruit and vegetables so that we can make connections between the food we eat and where it comes from. By making these connections it can help children to understand their impact on the world and a better way of existing in our eco system. We hope they take this home and share it with their families. Lots of people making a small change can make a big difference!

We will use the money raised to create a sustainable growing garden. We need to build raised beds and a fence. We will need a polytunnel and a place to store our tools and equipment. Soil and seeds will also get us started. Water buts can help us harvest rain water and demonstrate to the children the importance of this by modelling pro environmental behaviour.

This project successfully funded on 20th September 2022