Testimonials of Junior Gardeners Schools Activity. Learn to grow food.

Senior Infants thoroughly enjoyed the class Graham put on. The children said he was 'kind and hilarious'. He had a great way with the kids and really talked to them at their age level. It was very hands-on and engaging. The children mentioned they loved learning about different plants including ones we had on the school grounds. The children were delighted when they were allowed to bring the seeds they had planted home and got to see them grow. Many have mentioned using them to eat since! - Miss Williams, Senior Infants, St. Raphaels NS.

• Really fun, you get to see the plant grow every day
• I loved when you got to feel the soil and put the soil in the pot
• What I really likes about it was when you got the soil and it felt fluffy.
• I thought it was amazing you got to plant magic beans
• I enjoyed when you put the soil and the beans together and when you pressed the soil
• Down it didn’t feel hard.
• I loved when you planted the soil into the cup because it felt dry.
• It was fun because I love getting dirty and covered in muck
• I loved when we got to see all the different plants.
• I like when he showed us all the plant you can grow
• I like that he did it step by step and we got to keep the plant we planted.

Graham visited first class to teach the children about Spring time and planting seeds . The children got the opportunity to grow magic beans and runner beans. It was a magical experience- the children got to feel the soil and examine the different beans.First class loved getting the opportunity to become real life gardeners.
Graham was encouraging,kind,knowledgeable and funny.He made the children feel happy and was willing to answer any questions the children had about growing plants. The kids got to bring their own plant home to look after.
The children still come into school every day and update me on their plants and how big they are growing!
Thank you Graham for visiting our class and for letting us have so much fun planting seeds! We hope to see you again soon.
Deirdre Linehan - First Class Teacher

Hi Graham,

I just wanted to get in touch with you to say a heartfelt thanks for introducing your programme to our school. My Junior Infants class enjoyed the whole experience. You were very kind and knowledgeble and your positive approach to planting was contagious. Many of my class had never worked with compost before. They loved the excitement of putting their own magic bean into their own pot and waiting to see if it would grow. You told us to water them and wait for 5 days and sure enough all 29 pots have obvious roots growing. They enjoy checking them every day. You made the programme child friendly and easily accessed by E.A.L children and S.E.N children.

Thanks again and kind regards,

Niamh Reilly

Budding Gardeners Names- Ms. Hegarty's Junior Infant Class

Growing/ Gardening Activity- Growing beans

Materials used in Class- Soil, pots, seeds, labels, water

Planting Date- 11th March 2019

Germination Date- 14th March 2019

Grow appearing above Soil- 20th March 2019

Feedback -

I found this lesson extremely helpful and beneficial to the children's learning especially in the areas of science, geography and oral language. Our integrated learning theme for the month of April is 'The Garden Centre' so planting seeds was the perfect activity to extract and develop the children's prior knowledge and oral language around this topic.

The children got a chance to see, explore and feel;seeds, a sprouting conker and the shoots of a Horse Chestnut/ Oak tree. Graham talked to the children about the components needed for seeds to grow and allowed lots of time for questions. He then took the children down in groups, where they had a hands on learning experience and each got to plant their own seed.

Graham was really organised and had a fantastic manner with the children.

Each day, we check the seeds and we discuss and monitor progress. The children take turns watering the plants and updating the class on their seed's progress. The children are already so excited about taking their plants home in the coming weeks.

Thanks so much for all the help and I hope the feedback is useful.

Claire

Hi Graham,

Just a little email to say a massive thank you for coming in to do planting with my class. The children really enjoyed the activity and it was a super way to put their learning into context. They are eagerly watching their plants every day and can't wait to finally bring them home.

I think this activity is really beneficial for the children and they thoroughly enjoyed this 'hands-on approach' to learning which reflected our monthly theme; the garden centre. Some children in my class present with special educational needs and this activity provided them with huge levels of fun and sensory engagement.

I hope some of these comments will help you with the programme.

Thanks again,

Keri Kennedy

Hi Graham

Thanks so much for coming to do some planting with Junior Infants.
My class really enjoyed the planting and listening to you telling them all about how to take care of the beans they planted. I was watching them as you were talking them through the planting stages and each one of them were listening and following every step - they were so engaged in it (I can't say they are like that for every one of my lessons 🙂 ) The way you set up in the class and the hands on experience you gave to each child made it such a fun learning environment that catered for the needs in the class - the children with sensory and visual needs were very well supported and they particularly enjoyed this style of learning.
They were so intrigued to see what was in the wheelbarrow and all the resources you had brought made the whole experience even better.
They are still learning from this experience as every morning the first thing they do is check how their beans are growing. They are enjoying looking after the beans and remembering to water them and keep them somewhere they will get light. This type of learning is what they remember and I think it is going to be one of their favourite lessons in school this year.

Thanks so much for being so generous with your time.
I hope you will keep coming in to do lessons like this

Helena Kane

To whom it may concern,

Graham Bradley has been coming into my class each year for the past five years, planting with the children. He is brilliant with the students. He has come equipped with mini pots, compost and seeds. He has taken groups of 6-8 children at a time and helped each child to plant their own seeds into a pot. He demonstrates to the children how to fill their pot with compost and how to plant their seeds. He has empowered the children to plant their own plants and shows them how to look after them.

The children gain so much by this experience. It is such a hands-on activity and the children love to feel the soil and seeds. They gain a sense of achievement, when they watch their plants grow and take them home to replant in their gardens. Having the plants growing in the classroom has a calming, greening effect on the class.

I couldn't recommend Graham enough, an extremely capable, organised, knowledgeable person who inspires all the children he comes into contact with. He has great passion for what he does and he has shared his talents with so many classes in our school from infants to sixth class.

Yours sincerely,

Therese Schmidt

St Mochta's NS, Clonsilla

Testimonials

Testimonials from teachers and students - who are now 'Junior Gardeners'

St. Raphaels N.S.

St. Raphaels N.S.

Children Quotes

St. Raphaels N.S.

St. Mochtas Clonsilla

St. Mochtas Clonsilla

St. Mochtas Clonsilla

St. Mochtas Clonsilla

St. Mochtas Clonsilla