Category Archives: Press

Coronation Seeds

I am delighted to have been a part of this initiative to help schools to connect through planting seeds to celebrate the King’s Coronation.

King’s Coronation 2023: Why are primary schools receiving wildflower seeds?

We’re joining forces with the Eden Project to send thousands of packets of wildflower seeds to primary schools across the country to celebrate the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III.

This will give schools the opportunity to mark this historic moment, while helping children to learn more about the importance of biodiversity.

Why are we sending schools wildflower seeds?

This initiative is inspired by His Majesty the King’s commitment to the environment. Working with the Eden Project’s National Wildflower Centre, over 200,000 seeds packets will be sent to schools.

If planted together, around 40 rugby pitch sized wildflowers meadows would be created. The packets of seeds include native annual wildflower species, like cornflower, corn poppy and corn chamomile.

Planting the seeds will be an opportunity for children to engage with the natural world and learn more about the importance of biodiversity, as well as being a way for them to celebrate a historic national moment.

The Living Line

Carpenters Primary School was selected to be part of an ongoing contemporary art project called the Living Line.

The Living Line is a site-specific commission by East London-based illustrator Somang Lee. It visualises the plants, birds and insects that can be discovered along the route of The Line, encouraging people to explore the wealth of wildlife in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and along the waterways.

During the development of the commission, Lee led workshops at Pudding Mill Allotments with Year 5 students from Carpenters School. The resulting drawings are featured in The Botanical Gallery at the centre of the installation.

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Lord Mayors Show

Grow Your Own Playground pupils were are asked by the Worshipful Company of Bakers to be part of their float for the 2022 Lord Mayors Show. We had a fantastic day walking the streets of London waving our homegrown wheat.

London Produce show

I was delighted to be invited to work with The Embassy the Netherlands and the London Produce Show on another competition to get children more engaged with eating fresh fruit and vegetables.

The three winning schools were invited to attend the London Produce Show at Grosvenor House Hotel, London to meet food growers from all over the world, for a VIP tour. Prizes were kindly donated by Rijk Zwann for the Netherlands, Jan Hutchinson from New Spitalfields Market and Paul Rochford from the Worshipful Company of Gardeners.

Grow Your Own Ingredients – Jam & Jelly

My new book is launched in California!

I was delighted to be able to visit The Edible Schoolyard Project in Berkeley, California to meet Director Hannah Love and to be shown around this incredible garden. Alice Waters, who started the project at Martin Luther King Middle School, in Berkeley near San Francisco, has been instrumental in highlighting the need for good food education linking gardening with cooking and helping children to positively connect with plants and food. It was great to see pupils, gardening during their summer holiday and to see them so relaxed in their garden and kitchen. It is testament to a great team of people who work there even when the sun isn’t out!

HRH The Queen and Prince Philip visit Mayflower

On the 15th June 2017 Mayflower Primary School was honoured with a  visit from the Queen and Prince Philip. The Queen came because it was the centenary of one of the first bombs to hit London during the First World War. On June 13 1917, a daylight bomb from a German aircraft hit Upper North Street School in Poplar, killing a class of children most of whom were aged between four and six. The Queen and Duke attended a ceremony at the local church and then came to visit the school where she met every pupil. It was an honour to have had this opportunity to meet them.