Morecambe schoolchildren pilot innovative urban farm

Pupils from Year 3 at the school are currently the first in the UK to take part in the Grow@School project run by LetsLocalise, a social enterprise which aims to empower pupils across the UK.

They have joined forces with American award winning educator and best-selling author Stephen Ritz, who founded the Green Bronx Growing Project.

Pupils have weekly online sessions with Stephen when they can chat and ask questions. They also plan to make pen pals with children in the Bronx.

The school, which is based in Low Lane in Torrisholme, was chosen to be one of the schools to pilot the project as LetsLocalise worked successfully with headteacher Kathryn Pym at the height of the pandemic.

Recently, Mrs Pym spoke at the House of Lords about the impact of LetsLocalise’s support for schools.

LetsLocalise have provided tower gardens which the pupils are using to grow their own fruit and vegetables which they will eventually sell at a farmers market at the school after the Easter break.

The tower gardens are kept in the classroom so pupils can watch them grow every day and, as part of their curriculum, they are learning more about urban sustainable farming and healthy eating.

In a video produced as part of the project, the pupils explained how they chose the vegetables they wanted to grow.

One boy said he was excited to grow carrots because he likes horses and horses like carrots while one of the girls explained how she’s growing peppers even though she doesn’t like them.

After the farmers market, the school can keep the tower gardens for other years to use and the project will be rolled out to more schools nationwide.

“We are very lucky and humbled to be one of the first schools to be chosen to pilot Grow@School,” said Mrs Pym. “The project helps children to look at growing plants with a different perspective and the plants grow so quickly that they can see their hard work paying off.”