Sensory Garden at Mordiford Primary School
This year, we delivered an extended six-week programme with Year 3 pupils at Mordiford Primary School, transforming a section of the school’s outdoor space into a vibrant Sensory and Vegetable Garden.
The garden was designed as a space for hands-on learning, creativity, and wellbeing. Pupils engaged in:
- Planting herbs, edible plants and vegetables.
- Learning about composting and the natural cycles of growth and decomposition.
- Creative workshops included making seed bombs, decorating recycled wellies, and crafting hanging planters from milk bottles.
A weekend family gardening day was a highlight – a joyful, intergenerational event where families worked together to dig beds, tidy the area, build a bug hotel and complete a nature-themed scavenger hunt.
The result is a beautiful, interactive space filled with sensory plants, edible crops, and a small pond – a space that fosters connection with nature, supports children’s mental health, and promotes environmental awareness through play and mindfulness. The school has also been introduced to the Bokashi composting system and have bought their own Bokashi bin. We hope that the school will sustain the garden and that it will be incorporated into all year groups learning across the curriculum.
As part of our ongoing collaboration, Mordiford’s Year 3 class also visited Hellens. During the visit, pupils contributed to our Festival Audio Trail by decorating and planting up wellies. They were also given a lively, hands-on talk by local smallholder farmer Kev Alviti, which proved to be a real highlight of the day.
Feedback from Yr 3 teacher:
The children in Year 3 thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience of being part of the Sensory Garden project last summer and they felt a real sense of pride in their contributions, gaining valuable knowledge about how to care for plants and maintain outdoor spaces. The project has not only enhanced their understanding of nature but has fostered a sense of responsibility and ownership. The transformation of the garden spaces has brought a renewed sense of care and calm. We hope to take what we have learned from this project to other spaces in the school grounds. Thank you!
J.Glover
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Earth Education Day with Riverside Primary School
In September, we welcomed Riverside Primary School to Hellens for an Earth Education Day. This is the first time we have worked with this school and what a joy their children were!
A group of 24 Key Stage 2, yrs 3-6 pupils, including members of the Eco-Committee and School Council, attended with their teacher and TA.
The day began with a captivating session from Jenny Ogden, who introduced children to the migratory journey of swallows through her beautifully handmade puppet creatures. This set the tone for a day focused on curiosity, connection, and care for the planet.
Themes explored included:
- Where our food comes from and the concept of food miles
- Waste and where it goes
- Principles of permaculture: Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share
- How we can all be “Earth Helpers”
- How we are all connected, and how all creatures, including humans, Migrate
- By doing just one small thing we can make a big difference
Kat Terry from Hellens Manor, led the children on a short walk around Hellens which ended with an identification hunt for medicinal plants in the Physic Garden.
One of the highlights was the energetic and delightfully messy “Great Egg Race” game, which helped reinforce ideas around local sourcing and sustainability in a fun and memorable way.
To end the day, each child created a paper swallow or dove, writing messages of hope and peace to a child somewhere else in the world – a quiet, powerful activity that connected global citizenship with personal action.
We were really impressed by Riverside’s existing commitment to sustainability and their eagerness to go even further. The school is already working toward its Green Flag Award, and we are excited about the potential for future collaboration.
