Sarah spends most of her week teaching at Cranbury’s Individual Learning Provision (ILP) Hub. Alongside teaching core subjects, she leads Horticulture lessons that have become a highlight of the school’s enrichment and wellbeing offer.

Q: Tell us about your role, Sarah.
A: I spend most of my week teaching at our Individual Learning Provision Hub, a satellite class separate from our main secondary school. This setting is for students who struggle with the social and sensory aspects of the main school and therefore benefit from a smaller setting. I deliver Horticulture, Personal Development, Therapeutic Art, Reading, Maths and English. I also deliver Emotional Literacy intervention and am part of the Sustainability Team.

Q: You were nominated for Team Talks for your work in Horticulture. Please tell us about that.
A: Last academic year, I started delivering Horticulture lessons to allow our students the opportunity to engage in hands-on activities that provide a sense of accomplishment. We started off small by purchasing established strawberry plants, which became a lesson in resilience as they sadly did not last very long. By the summer term, we had plum tomatoes, baby cucumbers, golden raspberries and pumpkins growing. Students were beaming with pride and wanted to show their hard work to everyone who came to visit. This term we have been planning ahead with a garden calendar, starting with winter-hardy herbs and vegetables. Students have also built miniature terrariums, explored carnivorous plants and developed their knowledge of how to maintain the garden year-round.

Q: What motivates you to keep pushing this work forward?
A: My love and passion for plants motivates me to deliver these lessons, as well as watching how the students throw themselves into the responsibility of caring for their environment. Through my gardening lessons, students develop patience, resilience and empathy, as well as practical skills such as writing instructions and hand-eye coordination. Students have taken a real interest in watching their seedlings sprout and have many ideas about what to do with the food that we grow, such as cooking with it or donating to food banks.

“Through gardening, students develop patience, resilience and empathy, and they take real pride in what they grow.”

Q: What have you learned along the way?
A: Many changes have been made to the curriculum as I have developed it. Lessons focussed solely on written work were challenging when students could not see the relevance of what they were doing. That experience has led me to always build in practical elements alongside theory, such as building 3D paper models of carnivorous plants.

This year I have added more sustainability-focused activities, like building for biodiversity and upcycling plastic waste to create garden tools.

Q: Which MET value connects most strongly to your work?
A: Work Together. Gardening encourages collaboration and teamwork between pupils. Many tasks require shared effort and responsibility, and I have seen friendships really start to blossom when students take part in gardening activities.

“Gardening encourages collaboration and strong teamwork between pupils. I have seen friendships really start to blossom.”

Q: What advice would you give to colleagues?
A: I would recommend signing up to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) School Gardening Awards, made up of five levels that recognise and reward school gardening. We are currently working towards Level 2, which offers a £50 gift voucher and a free book.

Q: What is next for your project?
A: Next term, I plan to introduce more scientific topics, such as food chains, and we will start preparing items to sell at the Christmas fayre, although I will not spoil the surprise. As the weather warms up, students have requested we grow strawberries, raspberries and tigerella tomatoes.

Huge thanks to Sarah for taking the time to Team Talk to us and to share her inspirational work.