School Gardens Update

Do you want to develop your school gardens as a resource for students, staff and maybe the local community?

Lime Orchard is a garden design and construction company based in Nottinghamshire, who have become experts in helping schools to navigate through the system, to gain funding for designing and building great gardens and outdoor classrooms to enhance pupil learning.
We have worked with pre school, primary and secondary schools and have designed and built 100% funded, great gardens for them, see below for details of some of our school projects around the country

We are also running a schools garden design competition to win up to £2000 worth of garden design fees for your school, read on to find out how your pupils can enter .

"We have your plans up for parents to see what we have as our aspiration as money allows and they have been very enthusiastic in helping the children plant the trees. We were able to use the plan to help secure funding... "

From Richard Bonington School, Notts 

Celebrate The London 2012 Games and win a Garden Design worth £2000

Children are invited to submit their own design for a garden themed around the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games . Children can let their imagination run wild (pun intended!) or take inspiration from their own experiences of the 2012 Games!

The winning entry announced after the closing date of Tuesday 6 November will a receive professional garden design advice from the award-winning Lime Orchard team up to the value of £2000 for their nominated school, youth group or community project. Two runners-up will each received £100 in Gift Vouchers to spend on garden tools, plants or equipment. A presentation event will be announced in early 2013 with Irish Olympic Show Jumper - Billy Twomey presenting the awards.

Twomey commented

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to have the Olympic Games in your own back yard! I’m really delighted to support Lime Orchard in getting local children involved!”

The competition is open to children that attend full-time school and can submit there design in their choice of medium up to a maximum size of A3 (for print) or PDF of no more than 10Mb file size (for electronic submission)
 

Download the Entry Form click here >

Are your Pupils Enjoying the Benefits of an Outdoor Classroom?

The award winning Lime Orchard garden design team would like to share with head teachers and school governors the undisputed educational, environmental and social benefits associated with having a wonderful school garden. As a business we've an established track record in the creation of inspirational, RoSPA approved, outdoor classrooms. But as you will be aware, alfresco learning is not just about the aesthetic appeal of an outside space .

An Example of our School Garden Projects

Primary School Notts	Awaiting image
Cost to Design	£700
Cost to Build	£12,000
Funding Received	100%
This project replaced existing hard-surface play area with bespoke creative water-play and sound play areas with a focus on natural materials Using natural stone to create shallow pools and waterfall for the children to play in, also encourages insect life in to the garden. A den, created from a dome of living willow makes a beautiful hide-out for games and shaded reading area for story time. Sculptures hanging with pots and pans and beaters are there to encourage children to explore sound.

Pre-School Rutland
Cost to Design	£1,100
Cost to Build	£29,000
Funding Received	£10,000.00
The design sets out to increase play, creativity and interaction within the space. Being a very flat ext. site the aim is to introduce exploration, stimulation and journey within the area. This is achieved by introducing height, mass, division, texture and bold visual elements. Curved screens with circular, step through openings create tantalising views through to new areas of play activity. A grass knoll brings much needed greenery into the space and the rest of the area divides into water play, a trike track, sand play, sound play & sensory planting.

Primary School North London
Cost to Design	£1,100.00
Cost to Build	£17,000.00
Funding Received	£10,000.00
The brief for this school was to create a sensory garden that utilised a variety of tactile materials. The centre-piece of which was a wild-life pond with controlled access points and protruding deck to allow investigation of the pond’s eco-system in a safe manner.

Secondary School West Midlands
Cost to Design	£2500.00
Cost to Build	£100,000.00
Funding Received	100% Funding by Diocese and fund raising events
The school had extensive areas featureless of Macadam surface that required renovation. Moving away from traditional ‘black top’, a light surface brightened the area. This became the basis to create a Continental café inspired socialising environment for teenage pupils. Timber uprights create a feeling of seclusion without removing line of sight and were used to deter footfall amongst robust planting.

How Can Your School Access This?

At Lime Orchard, we have a wealth of experience of working with schools (pre-schools, primary and secondary schools) to deliver exceptional outdoor learning spaces. Our award winning garden design team was involved in the creation of the 2008 RHS Chelsea Flower Show show garden "The Marshalls garden that kids really want", which was awarded an RHS Silver medal.

We are able to combine a deep understanding of the far-reaching educational benefits of a school garden with an appreciation of the aspirations of the children for whom the garden is being created. We can work with you to create a bespoke outstanding outdoor learning resource. Our service provides a complete solution, from initial design concept right through to a quality installation delivered by experienced local landscapers.

 

NOTTS SCHOOL GARDEN DESIGN COMPETITION 2011-12

CHANCE TO WIN A £2,000 PROFESSIONAL DESIGN FOR YOUR SCHOOL GARDEN

Here is an opportunity for your school to engage in an exciting Nottinghamshire-wide garden design initiative.  We anticipate that the project will not only provide a useful learning resource (and a possible lively Family Learning Task), it will also help children to appreciate the extensive benefits of an outdoor class room.  One lucky school will win a professional garden design consultation (worth up to £2,000) courtesy of the award winning Lime Orchard garden design team. Two runner’s up will each receive a cash prize of £100.

As you will be aware, alfresco learning is not just about the aesthetic appeal of an outside space. A survey of 700 schools and early learning settings, commissioned by Learning through Landscapes (the national school grounds charity) proved that schools which have invested in and improved their outdoor facilities for pupils, experience significant tangible benefits such as

-           enhanced pupil behaviour (73% of respondents)

-           a reduction in bullying (64% of respondents)

-           improved attitudes towards learning (65% of respondents)

-           better social interaction (84% of respondents)

-           increased community / parental involvement (66% of respondents)

Last Year’s Winners

The Joseph Whitaker School, in Rainworth, Mansfield stepped up to the challenge  with a winning design entry - which was supported by a stunning 4 foot by 4 foot 3D model of their garden depicting a polytunnel, shed and chicken coop with accompanying chickens!!

The project was spearheaded by Sue Harpham who runs the Joseph Whitaker School (JWS) Community Gardening Club. The club represents an important support activity for special children in the community, children living with either physical and / or learning difficulties. Commenting on the school’s success, Sue said “We are thrilled to have been selected to win this prestigious award, which underpins the significant role the JWS Gardening Club plays in the local community. Participating in the Gardening Club in the evenings, at weekends and during school holidays enables our special children to develop valuable life skills and boosts their self-esteem and confidence within the group. By winning the prize of a professional garden design we will be able to realize the true potential of our garden space and further enhance the scope of our WASP (We are Special People) activities”.

Minster Secondary School and Bleasby Primary School in the Southwell area were also both selected as runners-up in the competition, each winning £100 and a free initial garden design consultation.

How to Enter

If you’d like more information on the Lime Orchard School Garden Design project for Nottinghamshire schools, simply email or phone us and we will forward a an entry pack which includes ideas on getting started with a garden design, to assist  teachers in introducing this topic into their lesson plans.  The competition is open from November 2011 and the closing date for entries will be 31st March 2012 with judging taking place April 2012.

View our web site www.limeorchard.co.uk/school-gardens  for details of our award winning design capabilities / references to school gardens that we have created.

Nottingham's Got (Gardening) Talent!

A Mansfield school has beaten off stiff competition to win Lime Orchard’s design competition, which invited Nottingham’s nurseries, primary and secondary schools to put forward ideas their best ideas to create an inspirational outdoor learning space.

The Joseph Whitaker School, in Rainworth, Mansfield stepped up to the challenge laid down by Lime Orchard to dig deep and come up with a winning design entry - which was supported by a stunning 4 foot by 4 foot 3D model of their garden depicting a polytunnel, shed and chicken coop with accompanying chickens!!

The project was spearheaded by Sue Harpham who runs the Joseph Whitaker School (JWS) Community Gardening Club. The Gardening Club represents an important support activity for special children in the community, children living with either physical and / or learning difficulties. Commenting on the school’s success, Sue Harpham says “We are thrilled to have been selected to win this prestigious award, which underpins the significant role the JWS Gardening Club plays in the local community. Participating in the Gardening Club in the evenings, at weekends and during school holidays enables our special children to develop valuable life skills and boosts their self-esteem and confidence within the group. By winning the prize of a £2,000 professional garden design fee consultation we will be able to realize the true potential of our garden space and further enhance the scope of our WASP (We are Special People) activities”.

Minster Secondary School and Bleasby Primary School in the Southwell area were also both selected as runners-up in the competition, each winning £100 and a free initial garden design consultation.
The competition, proved hugely popular with schools and nurseries across the county and Lime Orchard managing director Judy Behl said “we were overwhelmed by not only the number of entries but also the incredibly high standard of entry and the obvious amount of work each school put into their submission. It was extremely difficult to choose just one winner but we felt that the superb work that The Joseph Whitaker School does in terms of using their school garden as a means to provide a much needed community facility, made this fantastic entry really stand out from the crowd”.

Nottinghamshire Schools Garden Design Competition

SEARCH FOR BUDDING JUNIOR GARDEN DESIGNERS
Nottinghamshire children invited to design the ultimate alfresco classroom …

 A countywide schools competition has been launched to seek out the region’s budding junior garden designers – with the winning school receiving a professional garden design consultation from award winning local company, Lime Orchard (worth £2,000).
Nurseries, primary schools and secondary schools in the area have been tasked with the challenge, which invites students (with a little help from the teaching staff!) to design an inspirational outdoor learning space.
The project, which requires entries to be submitted s via a sketch and short written description - is designed to help local learning establishments appreciate the proven benefits of the alfresco classroom. A survey of 700 schools and early learning settings, commissioned by Learning through Landscapes (the national school grounds charity) proved that schools which have invested in and improved their outdoor facilities for pupils, experience significant tangible benefits such as

• enhanced pupil behaviour (73% of respondents)
• a reduction in bullying (64% of respondents)
• improved attitudes towards learning (65% of respondents)
• better social interaction (84% of respondents)
• increased community / parental involvement (66% of respondents)

And in June of this year, the Royal Horticultural Society released findings from a study of 1,300 teachers and 10 schools which confirmed that taking part in gardening can make a child feel happy and boost their development’. It found children in schools that encouraged gardening became more resilient, confident and lived healthier lives, resulting in the RHS saying ‘school gardening should be used as a key teaching tool, rather than as an extra-curricular activity’.
Judy Behl, managing director of Lime Orchard comments:

"There is a vast body of evidence to prove that children really thrive in schools with a good outdoor learning facility. Having been involved in a national RHS Chelsea Flower Show project to design the garden that ‘children really really want’, we are very much aware of how much enthusiasm children have for the alfresco classroom. Following on from our RHS Chelsea experience, it made total sense to capture some of that inspiration and passion amongst local children here in the county of Nottingham”.

The competition, will run from October 2010 to February 2011, with judging taking place during March 2011.

Click here to contact us for further information

Visit our Schools Garden Design Page for more inspiration!