Schools & the RHS
The Royal Horticultural Society School and Family Learning team offer many services to schools.
- RHS Get your School Growing
- Campaign for School Gardening
- Schools Membership Scheme
- School Visits to RHS gardens
- Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Days - previously known as INSET
- Family Trails
- Flourish Campaign - the RHS campaign to get communities growing
- Advisory Leaflets
- Leaflet on sowing Godetia seeds (pdf document 60KB)
- Leaflet on sowing lettuce seeds (pdf document 56KB)
- Horticultural and educational advice.
- Gardens for Life
- Teaching resources
- The DfES Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto
- Teacher's TV - Watch us Grow
- Online lettuce trial - join in - take part NEW
- Making a Mint! If you'd like some mint seeds and teaching resources &/or to enter a competition called Making a Mint with a first prize of £1,000 worth of gardening vouchers, visit Plant Science. The competition is organised by Planet Science and The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts.
To view pdf documents you will need a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader. We strongly recommend that you download the latest version to prevent problems viewing the documents. This is available free from the Adobe website. Click on the logo to go to the website.
Grow your own VEG
For the past year RHS Gardens Harlow Carr in Yorkshire and Rosemoor in Devon have been the inspirational locations for a new TV series which aims to get beginners growing their own fresh produce.
Find out more about the TV programme, the book, the online and other RHS activities
Libra School take Silver Gilt at Malvern Spring Show
Well done to the children of Libra School in North Devon who scooped a Silver Gilt medal at the Malvern Spring Flower Show in mid May. The Libra School is a small independent school which caters for pupils with special educational needs. The school’s pupils have developed links with the Dr William Connor School’s Special Educational Unit on the Caribbean island of St Kitts.
Their garden, called 'Diversity', was designed by Gill Lomax and Steve Pearce, and highlights the educational, cultural and horticultural differences between a Devonian garden, similar to the one developed at the school by the children, and the gardens and plants found in the tropical Caribbean.
Everyone at the school was absolutely thrilled, especially the children, many who got to meet Chris Beardshaw and Joe Swift.
Apple Mosaic Competition Winner
Congratulations to Catherine Devenport from Comin Infant School, Aberdare, South Wales, who won the Apple Mosaic Competition 2006. Her lovely drawing of a lion was recreated in apples by the wonderful Fruit Team at RHS Garden Wisley.
Are you inspired by the competition?
Inspired by the Apple Mosaic Competition, pupils from Petersgate Infants School, Waterlooville, created their own apple mosaic. The apples were kindly provided by the Fruit Department at Wisley.
Bulb planting
The Gardening Club from Broadmere School, Sheerwater, Woking, and pupils from year 1 from Furzefield School, Merstham, Redhill, helped to plant tulip bulbs at RHS Garden Wisley. Thank you Broadmere and Furzefield your help was very much appreciated by all the gardeners at Wisley.
Science Day at RHS Garden Wisley
During National Science Week (10-19 March), two secondary schools spent the day at RHS Garden Wisley. The students took part in activities with the scientists who work there. The activities were:
- Plant DNA extraction and a visit to the Herbarium where examples of plants are preserved.
- Chemical extraction of chlorophyll by chromatography.
- ‘Beetle Bug Ball’ - a slide show, observation and discussion about invertebrates.
- ‘Survival of the fittest’ - an introduction to how plants are adapted to their environments followed by a competition; can the students match the plants to their habitat? Download Plant Adaptions pdf (248KB)
- Soil samples were hand textured with ‘Dr Dirt’ (Soil Scientist), as an understanding of soil textures is vital to knowing how soils behave. This is particularly the case with water and nutrient retention. Download Soil Texture pdf (560KB)
If you are interested to learn more about science in the garden and the work of plant scientists why not visit an RHS garden.
News from schools
If you would like to share a little bit about yourselves, and what you’ve been up to, with other schools via our website, contact us via our e-mail address: schools@rhs.org.uk, or write to the Curricular Education Officer, RHS Garden Wisley, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB.
Click on the links below to find out what other schools have been doing.
Woodlands Field Group
Little Hearts/Beacon Hill International Nursery and Primary School in Lagos
Raised beds at John Hampden School
Libra School at Malvern
Family gardening at Moor Lane Junior School
Ravenscliffe High School Community Garden
Greetland School Gardening Club
Grounds improvements at Wood Green School
Secret Garden Unveiled at Charlton Manor Primary School
Sunflowers at Martston Green Infants school, Solihull
Organic gardening at Northwood Primary School
Vegetable gardening at Copthorne Primary School
Enterprising Whitesmore
A bumper harvest at St Peter Chanel
Glenbrook Primary School
Haworth's helping hands
Take a trail around Walthamstow School
Fullbrook School wins top award
Surrey schoolchildren hold 'Make and Bake Day' to raise funds for RHS Bicentenary Glasshouse
Living history at Lady Elizabeth Hastings
Seed sowing with Little Sutton Primary
Nurturing nature at Coombes School
Inspiration at Palatine Special School
Top tips for gardening in spring
We've produced a list of top tips for spring
Also see our main calendar of jobs for the month
BBC Gardening with Children
The RHS has been working closely with the BBC to develop its Gardening with Children website. Entertain your children with a selection of educational activities developed for four to seven year olds.
To visit the site click here