Students at Mayflower High School, located in Billericay, Essex, sought permission from their headteacher to create a sensory garden within the school grounds. The garden was designed to provide a quiet retreat from the hustle and bustle of school life, offering a peaceful space where students, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), could take time out.
From Sensory Garden to Vegetable Patch
The garden has since evolved to include a thriving vegetable patch. Michelle Wenborn, a trauma practitioner at the school, explained the project's origins: "We started a small sensory garden a couple of years ago, and then a student shared their idea of growing and eating vegetables they had sowed themselves. The idea literally grew from there. We put together a plan and found a spot within the school to create our own veg patch."
Student-Led Initiative
Working closely with the school's site team, students constructed four raised beds, which they have filled with a variety of vegetables, herbs, flowers, and fruit. Students from all year groups now tend to the space during their lunch clubs or one-to-one sessions, and they have already produced potatoes, radishes, and edible flowers.
Mrs Wenborn expressed pride in the students' achievements: "The students are so proud of what they have achieved, especially the student whose idea this was."
Future Plans
The school aims to involve more members of the school community in the project. Mrs Wenborn added: "Our hopes are to get anyone within the school community who wants or needs to get in touch with nature and nurture our crops to get involved. We also hope to have plenty of produce we can give to our school pantry to use in class, maybe sell some to raise money for the continuation of our school veg patch."
Looking ahead, the team envisions the space and their ideas growing for many years to come. "We are looking at this space and our ideas growing for many years to come and for more students and staff and the wider school community to benefit from all that grows and flourishes there," Mrs Wenborn concluded.
