15,000 Schools Sign Up to RHS Campaign that's backed by Alan Titchmarsh

15,000 schools have signed up to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Campaign for School Gardening, backed by the nation's favourite gardener, Alan Titchmarsh, meaning the charity is helping nearly half of all UK schools to garden, engaging some 3,000,000 3 million children.

Set up only four-and-a-half years ago to encourage and support schools to use gardening as a teaching resource, the campaign has gone from strength to strength and Berryhill Primary School, in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, has become the 15,000th school to register.

Through new initiatives like RHS Young School Gardener of the Year, which is being launched during the first National Gardening Week (16-22 April), the RHS will continue to shout about the importance of gardening in school in the hope of signing up, by the campaign's fifth birthday this September, more than half of all schools in the UK.

Alan Titchmarsh said: "We know the impact gardening at school has on children's development and wellbeing. As well as learning about the environment, it teaches them important life skills and makes them happy and healthy. Luckily for me, I stumbled on the magical world of gardening when I was young - watching how plants grew and getting my hands dirty brought fun and learning together - so it is my heartfelt belief that gardening at school brings many benefits every child should get the chance to enjoy. I know the RHS won't rest until all the schools in the UK are gardening!"

As demonstrated by RHS research, gardening boosts a child's development, teaches life skills and makes them healthier and happier. The most recent RHS report explores how gardening helps children with Special Educational Needs (SEN).

Sue Biggs, Director General, for the RHS, added: "We were the first organisation to recognise the huge importance of gardening in schools and the wonderful impact it has on children, and the RHS has led the way in encouraging children to get gardening ever since. I am both proud and delighted twe have reached this milestone figure and would like to encourage all schools to register now and help us create future generations of skilled individuals who appreciate the importance gardening has on the environment."

Berryhill Primary School will be presented with a plaque and a tree to celebrate this important milestone.

Head Teacher of Berryhill Primary School, Mrs Carrie Nicol, responded by saying: "We're delighted to be part of the Campaign for School Gardening and what a bonus that we're the 15,000th school to sign up! We have a Peace Garden at the front of our school for use all year round and are currently building an Eco Green House from plastic bottles, and we would like to make a small area for growing vegetables that we can eventually sell to our local community.

"We would also like to have more plants growing all year round to keep it looking smart. We can't wait to start developing these projects further and finding out how we can use the garden as an outdoor classroom, with the help from the RHS."

The RHS Campaign for School Gardening, which is also backed by Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins, has been running since 2007 and is free to join. Schools that register receive access to training courses and a whole host of online resources, including lesson plans, case studies and gardening advice. Each school is also sent a free starter pack; comprising of seeds, soil pH testing kits, posters and more.


FACTFILE:
The RHS has actively involved 15,000 schools across the UK in growing and gardening through its Campaign for School Gardening, which is supported by Waitrose. Children are taught about plants and gardening and their environment. Through gardening they learn about healthy fruit and vegetables, wildlife and important life skills such as teamwork, social skills and co-operation.

Huge benefits are to be had from using an outdoor classroom where children can learn in a fun, engaging way. Information, lesson plans and advice for schools is provided online and is backed up by support from the RHS education team and Campaign for School Gardening Regional Advisors. Schools work their way up from Level 1 to 5 and have the chance of winning the Alan Titchmarsh Award, between Levels 3 and 4. www.rhs.org.uk/schoolgardening

Gardening the hobby to make you fitter

Want to lose weight? Have more fun? Get more creative? Improve body and mind? Achieve it all by taking up gardening, this year.

Gardening is the multi-tasker of all New Year’s Resolutions. It enables you to exercise, lose weight, tone up, create something beautiful, lower blood pressure and lift spirits, all at once. And ‘gardening’ can cover many activities, from growing your own vegetables and flowers to building a pond or treehouse. For a list of 24 online gardening courses to give you inspiration, go to the MyGardenSchool website.

All MyGardenSchool courses begin on the first Saturday of every month.


Calorie Burning.
Gardening is the perfect way for you to achieve your recommended 30 minutes of exercise per day, and according to the University of Virginia, gardening rates favourably alongside other moderate to strenuous forms of exercise, like walking and bicycling.

Gardening works all the major muscle groups: legs, buttocks, arms, shoulders, neck, back and abdomen. There can be a great deal of stretching involved with gardening, like reaching for weeds or tall branches, bending to plant and extending a rake. Lifting bags of mulch, pushing wheelbarrows and shovelling all provide resistance training similar to weight lifting, but there is minimal jarring and stress on the body, unlike aerobics or jogging.

This, together with regularity and diversity of movements means that gardening can burn calories, tone your body and build strength, while improving the health of bones and joints. The benefits of being physically active, in terms of reduced risk of developing major chronic diseases, such as coronary heart disease, strokes and type two diabetes, are also well documented.

Uplifting Spirits.
Even just looking at a garden can give you a positive boost. The evidence is so compelling that there is now even a term for it – horticultural therapy – and it is being used in a variety of ways. For example, major cities such as Chicago are using gardening or horticultural therapists to help plan parks and botanical gardens, and to treat hospital patients, who are invited to join in the weeding, pruning, cultivating and harvesting. Other world cities, such as New York, are using it to calm prisoners and prepare them for their release.

Dr Roger Ulrich, a leading researcher on the effects of environment on behaviour from Texas A&M University, said: “If researchers had proposed 20 years ago that gardens and gardening could improve medical outcomes they would have been met with derision and scepticism.

“We now have studies showing that psychological and environmental factors can affect psychological systems and health status.”

A number of experiments have led scientists to reach their conclusions. In one, reported in the Journal of Environment Psychology, researchers took 112 young, stressed-out adults and split them into two groups. The first sat in a room with a view of trees and then strolled through a garden. The other sat in a windowless room and then walked in an urban environment. The group that relaxed in the garden showed decreases in blood pressure and a positive change in feelings. Researcher Dr Terry Hartig, from the University of California in Irvine, said: “Some of the changes could be measured within minutes.”

If you’re not sure where to start, or simply want to hone your horticultural skills, they’d love to see you in the classrooms at MyGardenSchool where you’ll learn about gardening and horticulture with other like-minded people from all over the world. All their tutors are outstanding in their field (and gardens!), being accomplished gardeners and acclaimed gardening writers.

For example, they have multi-gold medal winner at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Andy McIndoe with courses in bulbs, shrubs and trees; Stephanie Donaldson, author and Gardens Editor of Country Living magazine with a course on organic gardening; leading garden designer and author, Hilary Thomas with a courses in planting design; photographer and author Sue Bishop with a course on flower photography; and John Brookes, prolific author who is often described as the world's most influential garden designer, with a course on garden and landscape design. But that’s not all. Take a look at their online gardening course pages to see their other tutors.

All MyGardenSchool courses cost £120, last four weeks and begin on the first Saturday of every month. The beauty of the course being online is that students learn at their own pace, and in the comfort of their own home. Each course includes step by step video tutorials, downloadable course notes, and the facility to chat with tutors and fellow classmates online, in a ‘virtual classroom’. The classroom may be ‘virtual’ but the camaraderie is real, and the technology is very intuitive and easy to use.

MyGardenSchool Ltd is a unique global online horticultural classroom. Whether you want to grow organic veg, create enviable flower borders, nurture that perfect lawn, or simply give a good home to an egg laying chicken – MyGardenSchool offers a high quality range of gardening courses taught by some of the world’s top tutors and delivered right to your green fingertips. For more information, please go to www.my-garden-school.com.

Blue Peter Gardener, Chris Collins, joins MyGardenSchool to Create a Gardening Course for Children

Chris Collins becomes the latest gardening expert to join MyGardenSchool bringing outstanding expertise in horticulture for children

Perhaps the most famous face in children’s gardening, Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins, is working with MyGardenSchool to create a course on gardening for kids.

Aimed at parents and grandparents, teachers and youth workers, the course is designed to encourage the next generation of gardeners. Included in the four week online gardening course will be top gardening projects, how to grow vegetables, and top ten tips for gardening with children. The course will be available at the New Year, but it is possible to register your interest on the MyGardenSchool website now.

Chris Collins said: “There is something spiritual about our relationship with the garden, it’s a switch inside us that automatically turns on as soon as our fingers touch the soil. This is nowhere more apparent than when children nurture and grow plants. I have been working with children in the garden for six years, and I can honestly say that there isn’t a single child that’s not enjoyed it.”

As you might expect with Chris Collins at the helm, the course will be packed with engaging activity, exciting projects and practical approaches to gardening with children. “I’m really keen to get the message out about how easy it is to get kids involved in the garden, and perhaps more importantly, how very enjoyable it is – for both adults and children. That’s why I am so excited to be working with MyGardenSchool. As the courses are online it is possible for people everywhere to be able to access this information, and then get straight out in the garden with the kids and get their hands dirty.”

Gardening is increasingly being recognised as an activity of great educational and social value, and Chris is currently serving on a government committee, ‘The Growing Food in Schools Task Force’ which explores the growing importance of gardening in schools, and its academic influence.

Perhaps more than any other subject, gardening has an ability to draw together the threads of many different subjects across the curriculum. Take the example of creating a small garden for children. Children need to measure and survey the area (mathematics), identify the current flora and fauna (biology), draw the plan (art), prepare the ground (PE), work with others to realise the plan (PHSE) and finally nurture the plants (a key life skill) and witness first-hand the life cycle of plants (biology).

Duncan Heather, the Associate Director, MyGardenSchool and Principal, The Oxford College of Garden Design commented: “It is great to be working with Chris as he has so much energy and enthusiasm for gardening with kids. With over eight years’ experience of working with children, he really brings a unique blend of expertise and experience to the table – and this really makes for an excellent and compelling course. We are really proud to welcome him to MyGardenSchool, where we only have the best garden specialists on staff.”

Chris is not the only star tutor at MyGardenSchool. All of our tutors are outstanding in their field (and gardens), being accomplished gardeners and acclaimed gardening writers.

For example, we have multi-gold medal winner at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Andy McIndoe with courses in bulbs, shrubs and trees; Stephanie Donaldson, author and Gardens Editor of Country Living magazine with a course on organic gardening; leading garden designer and author, Hilary Thomas with a courses in planting design; photographer and author Sue Bishop with a course on flower photography; and John Brookes, prolific author who is often described as the world's most influential garden designer, with a course on garden and landscape design. But that’s not all. Take a look at our course pages to see our other tutors.

MyGardenSchool is the world's first online gardening school where students can learn from gardening experts about how to do absolutely everything in the garden from keeping bees or hens, landscaping, design, growing vegetables and herbs, building treehouses or growing the perfect roses. And everything in between. Our courses are four weeks long, and video tutorials are delivered weekly, together with course notes and assignments that will be assessed by your tutor. You also get to chat to your tutor online, as well as your classmates, in the 'virtual classroom'. MyGardenSchool will teach you everything about gardening – virtually.

About Chris Collins

In a career that spans 27 years, Chris Collins has worked in gardens throughout the world, including the Royal Botanical Gardens, Edinburgh, Limbe Botanic Garden (Cameroon), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Westminster Abbey, where Chris was head gardener. He also worked as a British horticultural specialist at the Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo. For the last 10 years, Chris has been involved in a number of TV projects including his on programme on BBC2 The Plantsman, and appearances as a garden expert in many other shows including The Chelsea Flower Show, Hampton Court Flower Show, Gardeners’ World , This Morning, Castle in the Country, Garden invaders, BBC Breakfast, Digging for Victory, GMTV , A Garden for London, Garden Rivals, Secret Gardens, Hard Sell, Garden Challenge, Turf Wars and of course, Blue Peter. In addition to his work with Blue Peter, Chris visits schools and undertakes projects with children up and down the country through his affiliations with charities such as the Royal Horticultural Society and School Food Matters. Chris has been awarded the Duke of Edinburgh medal for his services to horticulture, and in 2008 was part of the team that won a silver medal at Chelsea with 'The Garden That Kids Really Want.’

FACTFILE:
MyGardenSchool Ltd is a unique global online horticultural classroom. Whether you want to grow organic veg, create enviable flower borders, nurture that perfect lawn, or simply give a good home to an egg laying chicken – MyGardenSchool offers a high quality range of gardening courses taught by some of the world’s top tutors and delivered right to your green fingertips. For more information, please go to the MyGardenSchool website, or visit the MyGardenSchool blog.