Schools join forces to create 150 new traditional orchards

Secondary schools donate their trees to primary pupils trebling the number of school orchards in the UK

Year 9 Brampton Manor Secondary pupils give Brampton Primary School a lesson in orchard development

150 primary schools across Great Britain have received first hand help from secondary school pupils to create traditional orchards in their grounds, as a part of the ‘Fruit-full Schools’ project.

The 50 secondary schools already involved in the Fruit-full Schools programme, marked their third year of participation by donating the trees previously nurtured in their own grounds to three local primary feeder schools. The secondary pupils also assisted the primary schools with orchard development giving them first hand lessons, advice, support and guidance in the planting and maintenance of the new apple orchards.

The Fruit-Full Schools programme, developed by the national school grounds charity- Learning through Landscapes- aims to support environmental sustainability and demonstrate the benefits of locally grown produce. So far it has enabled secondary schools to graft 1500 local heritage apple trees that are in risk of dying out. Now each of the secondary schools participating are offering their trees to primary schools to increase the number of traditional orchards even further.

Martin Crabbe, a teacher at participating Glebe School in Bromley says, “The inclusion of our feeder primary schools at this point has been a great aspect of the project. We invited them to our orchard in the summer and our pupils were able to showcase their fine work to date, taking real pride in their grafted trees and getting a great sense of achievement in sharing their apple knowledge that has been built up over almost three years. This has been particularly beneficial for our pupils, some of which have complex needs, as it has helped build their confidence a great deal. It’s been a lovely way to build on our relationships with these schools and it’s great to think that their pupils will also benefit from the learning opportunities and health benefits presented by having an orchard in their school grounds”.

The Fruit-Full Schools project is helping to rejuvenate the growth of over 150 different English varieties and is having a huge impact on all of the participating school’s communities. Since 2010, secondary schools have grafted trees, developed nursery environments and designed their own orchard areas in their grounds, each receiving £1,000 to implement these designs.

In 2013 the schools will celebrate the harvest of their first fruit by redistributing produce among the local community and disadvantaged groups. They will also participate in a national initiative to see who can ‘scrump’ the largest donations of surplus produce from their local community and -as a part of a national ‘Fruit-full’ campaign- the children involved will aim to collect 100,000 signatures in support of local fruit.

The ‘Fruit-Full Schools’ programme has been developed by Learning through Landscapes in partnership with orchard experts Garden Organic and Common Ground. Fruit-Full Schools is funded by the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food scheme and the City Bridge Trust.