Garden selected as one of ten finalists in the School Gardening Team of the Year 2023 Category in the RHS Campaign for School Gardening.
A group of students from Northampton Academy and teacher Lisa Ullmann are thrilled to have reached the finals of a National Campaign for School Gardening competition run by the Royal Horticultural Society.
The idea for the Sensory Garden was born in September 2022. Lisa Ullmann and the team wanted to create a walk-through garden within the school grounds, to give students and staff a safe and relaxing space to enjoy and reflect. They wanted the area to encompass the plants' scents and colours, the sounds of a water feature, and wind chimes to create a calming, sensory space.
The garden began as a community project, and the school held its first-ever community 'Working Bee' to get it started. Students, staff, parents and other members of the wider community came along to help. In addition, the garden had support from local firm Travis Perkins, who not only agreed to donate 5 tonnes of chip bark but turned up on the day of the 'Working Bee' and worked tirelessly alongside students, parents and other community members to help with the digging and planting of the garden.
Since then, the dedicated students have carefully maintained the garden, working religiously on it weekly. It is important to them that the garden has a 'no-dig' approach, using recyclable materials sourced from areas within the school, such as the canteen and the site team, for weed prevention, eliminating the need for chemical weedkillers. The students are thrilled to have reached the final 10, and spoke of their newfound love for gardening, learning about the different plants, how they benefit from the physical activity and new friendships formed.
The team wanted to support a local charity as part of the school's 'Community Matters' programme, so they purchased 800 plants from Workbridge in Northampton. Workbridge offers a vocational pathway for people with mental illness, autism, learning disabilities or brain injuries and provides people with opportunities to gain skills and build confidence.
Year 9 student Alfie said:
"I decided to join this project because it helps our environment. It provides me with physical activity as I'm not a sporty student. I have made new friends and enjoy working with them on a project which supports the whole school."
English teacher Lisa Ullmann added:
"It has been a truly fantastic effort from our entire school community to bring our sensory garden to life, and I am so pleased that our collective hard work has been recognised at this national level. There is growing evidence that sensory gardens make a considerable contribution to mental and physical health and wellbeing, so it is excellent to be able to provide our students and staff with access to a space like this."
The judging panel commented:
"We were very impressed with their no-dig approach. They have considered the design process, using donated materials and support from a local nursery. This is the only garden with no edibles, which is bold as we see many schools growing food for purpose rather than pleasure. It's a wonderful idea to have a garden that's created to be a beautiful place rather than just being productive. It's clear that the children have a sense of companionship through the club, which is to be admired. Congratulations."
You can watch a video made by the team here using this link: https://youtu.be/9-ejDiv1NtQ