Growing And Learning

Pupils at an Alsager primary school show offtheir award-winning garden.

- Linda Viney

IT’S EASY to see why the children at Cranberry Academy in Alsager won the schools category of the Cheshire Life Garden of the Year competition. The enthusiasm these youngsters have for their plot is obvious, and infectious.

The garden has been created at the end of the school’s playing field and is a varied space, with raised beds, fruits and vegetables, wild flowers, a pond and woodland. They have also planted a willow tunnel, installed a poly tunnel and greenhouse, and created an outdoor classroom which is decorated with flags made by the children and is carpeted with artificial turf.

All pupils from age four to eleven have weekly outdoor learning as part of the PPA (Planning Preparation and Assessment Time) which helps them to learn of the importance of nature and science.