MILLENNIUM SCHOOL GARDEN BRAESIDE EDUCATION CENTRE, DEVIZES

The Wiltshire Gardens Trust have designed and planted a school garden at the Braeside Education Centre in Devizes, Wiltshire.  This centre is run by Wiltshire County Council and is open to the educational community throughout the county including primary, secondary and special schools. There is a large house and interesting grounds with conference and classrooms attached and a queue of schools wanting to visit.  The hundreds of children that pass through here each year experience a few days studying many aspects of the countryside and environment accompanied by their teachers.

The W.G.T. Millennium garden will compliment the facilities and features of the existing grounds by providing an educational resource for study of botany and horticulture.  It will demonstrate how the 'outdoor classroom' will aid them in the implementation of the National Curriculum and encourage teachers and pupils alike to use their grounds imaginatively.  The site is designed as a showcase of what can be achieved in a small area. It consists of easily maintained paths, walls, arches, raised beds, wood structures and a solar powered water feature with varying materials much of which is reclaimed.  It is a sampler garden with ideas that are designed to inspire schools to make part of their own grounds a more educational, attractive and interesting environment for all.

The Trust want children, some of whom are disadvantaged or with special needs, to experience all the different senses of sight, smell, touch, sound etc. that can be found in a garden and take these ideas back to their own individual situations to create something for themselves.  With this in mind, the planting incorporates colour, shape, scent, and feel, with ideas such as how plants attract insects, how they defend themselves from predators, how they cope with different soils, positions, and sites.

There is an educational leaflet to accompany the garden that includes details of the construction and design with tips on using the ideas within the National Curriculum.  It was formerly opened it in June 2000 by Clare Bradley, the BBC Blue Peter gardener.  This was following an INSET day for primary school teachers with Sue Johnson (lately the Education Officer of R.H.S.).  There is another INSET day already booked for October this year with the hope of many more to come.

Anybody who might like more details of this garden are very welcome to check out the further resources:

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