Bringing local cultures and faiths together with outdoor learning in Tooting Community Garden
We’re proud to be helping with a new outdoor learning project in the Community Garden with Gatton Primary School and the Mosaic Jewish Primary School
Our Community Garden-based project with Gatton School has run for nearly three years. Gatton is a Muslim primary near Tooting Broadway – click here for lots of our earlier reports.
The Head at Gatton Scool, Rifat Batool, has always been keen to extend the project to capitalise on ‘Garden’ learning opportunities for building community links plus vivid SMSC education.
SMSC is Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural development, which is linked strongly to schools’ citizenship curriculum content.
Rifat Batool has met an enthusiastic ally in Kate Baum, Head of the Mosaic Jewish Primary School.
This is a first exciting step in bringing together two Wandsworth borough faith communities in a new way, and facilitating a new chapter of shared outdoor learning. Both schools are Ofsted ‘Outstanding’, and this creative experiment is an example to all.
After planning in the autumn, last week on a sunny day in Tooting a Year 1 group from Gatton were joined by children from the Mosaic Jewish School. The photos tell the story:
Examining pictures of the diverse school activities in the Garden since March 2013.
Sorting garlic bulbs and separating the individual cloves.
Which way up to plant them?
Measuring the plot and cutting string to mark the row.
Planting the garlic cloves.
Later in the summer we’ll save some to cook dishes at both schools for the Tooting Foodival in September.
Close encounters.
The Mosaic Jewish School is starting a school garden at their new location in Roehampton. TTT and Gatton School’s facilitation experience – including growing and nature, awareness and teamworking games, building the rainwater harvesting classroom, the insect hotel and the bottle greenhouse – gave the visitors energy and plenty of ideas to add to their own garden and learning plans.
Children from both schools will continue be involved in joint plans. We can’t wait to see what develops, and we’ll share news on this blog.
Please get in touch with us at TTT if you would like to know more, or contribute to this project.
