Created by The Children’s Gardening Coach Lee Connelly and Leigh Johnstone (The Beardy Gardener), The Classroom Garden reimagines what a “classroom” can be, placing nature, creativity and young people’s voices at its core.
Lee Connelly tells HortWeek about how the educational garden came about, how children's voices will be heard at Chelsea, about an international tulip festival project and what he thinks of the state of schools gardening within current educational policy.
The Classroom Garden, in the Great Pavilion at Chelsea (19-23 May) is supplied by Farplants and has a wildflower meadow.
The space is designed to inspire families, educators and the horticultural industry to rethink how children engage with the natural world.
At the heart of the garden is an audio installation featuring real voices from schoolchildren, captured during Lee and Leigh’s school visits of local schools involved in this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show Young Reporters.
The Classroom Garden will also serve as a central hub for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show Young Reporters, a new initiative celebrating children’s perspectives at the show.
He says the school curriculum will change with outdoor learning becoming a focus, but the industry must push to make horticulture attractive to young people, and the Chelsea garden is part of that.
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