Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins came to Harrogate’s famous RHS Garden Harlow Carr this week to share his horticultural experience in the rainforests of Cameroon with over 100 children from Western Primary School.
As part of their topic ‘On Safari’, Year 1 and 2 children from the Harrogate primary school ‘hunted animals’ in the RHS garden before watching Chris’s slideshow and learning how to plant a cascading container in the new eco Learning Centre.
Zara Chantler, Key Stage 1 Coordinator said, “The children thoroughly enjoyed the whole day and it was fantastic to experience the wonderful new teaching space at Harlow Carr. Chris’s African presentation really engaged the children and they were delighted to receive Blue Peter badge stickers at the end of the session. We try to deliver as much experiential learning as possible within our curriculum so for this project, we started the term with an exotic animal demonstration in school by Noah’s Ark and were delighted to have been given the opportunity for a free day out at Harlow Carr to learn first hand what life in the jungle is all about.”
Debbie Handslip, Education Officer at RHS Garden Harlow Carr, added, “The Bramall Learning Centre is a stunning resource for schools, supporting a wide range of core subjects. The RHS garden is home to meadows, woodland, kitchen gardens and the building is a fabulous example of sustainability. Its many features can teach us how to work closely with the environment, while the teaching garden and glasshouse provide access to practical horticultural skills.”
“It has been inspirational for us all to hear about Chris’s trip to the Cameroons. What a bonus having a Blue Peter presenter supporting our quest at RHS Garden Harlow Carr to wow children with the natural world!”
All Harlow Carr’s pre-booked school educational visits are free of charge. The RHS primary schools programme can be found on www.rhs.org.uk/Children/For-schools/School-visits
story/photo by SIRA Studio
