The design for Edwardsville Primary School, in Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales. has now been competed. The design, covering over 8 acres of land, is the largest permaculture, eco design done in the UK for a school . The eco-makeover of the 8 acre site isn't just about recycling and compost bins, it includes free range chickens, a mini market garden with polytunnel, an orchard, soft fruit and herbs.
Already recognised as an example of good green practice, Edwardsville Primary School, near Merthyr Tydfil, is on the brink of implementing one of the largest sustainable school landscape designs in the UK. A low maintenance mixed fruit and perennial vegetable garden has already been planted and at it’s centre what looks like a house for hobbits is actually an eco-play shelter made from locally sourced materials including, cob (a traditional building material made of sub-soil and straw), lime rendering and a living Sedum roof.
This is the first of three outdoor classrooms to be planned in the school grounds. Already some of the children have weekly lessons in horticulture, which link into a number of subjects including maths, history, geology, biology and ecology.
Deputy Headteacher, Jonathan Rigby, is at the forefront of this new kind of green education, “It’s about preparing the next generation to be more self reliant, children will learn the skills that many say will be needed in a world where energy is in short supply and more food will be grown locally”, he says.
The design incorporates permaculture principles – a way of working with nature to create a super–productive landscape. It’s been put together by consultant permaculture designer Michele Fitzsimmons who has been working closely with the school, “The design is a mixture of unusual food plants which can be foraged freely by the children, for example edible honeysuckle, conventional vegetable growing and flowering plants to increase the beauty of the playgrounds and provide food for insects,” she says.
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“As well as this I have also designed in playing opportunities which are centred on free imaginative play and move away from overly constructed and designed play – the idea being that free play is essential for children to learn social skills and also offers a complete break from the more constructed learning activities in the classroom.”
The school has an amazing expanse of woodland on its north side - activities for this area include geological surveys, minibeast hunts and outdoor school plays.
Theses rock formations are ideal for geological surveys and the wild raspberries will be great to teach the children about foraging for food in the wild.
A free range chicken area is planned, so that children will be able to collect eggs and observe the animals’ natural behaviour.
Jonathan Rigby, Deputy Headteacher says, “Children should know how to grow food, how to harvest it and cook.
These are key skills and deserve to be part of the schools curriculum. Incorporating these ideas into the curriculum not only teaches the children key life skills, but also helps to tackle poor eating habits and potential obesity problems in later life. Outdoor learning in general can also help those children who are struggling with classroom learning to overcome their difficulties and help increase their self esteem and confidence.”
In addition to the food growing aspect of the project, there are also areas such as spring meadow and mixed native hedgerow which will increase the biodiversity of the school grounds. These areas too will tie into the school’s science curriculum, as well as creating a beautiful and restful environment for play.
There are also plans to create community allotments from an unused part the school grounds. This will help to involve the wider community and spread the message that local food growing is important.
This design for the new junior playground will encompass a play area for free play and ball games, a cob horticultural teaching space, a school polytunnel for growing term time veg, outdoor veg beds, a spring and early summer meadow on all grassed areas, a mixed native hedge surrounding the entire area, a New Zealand compost bin area for school composting, a cob play shelter and an award winning RHS school permaculture garden.
Over the past five years, the school has gained help from volunteers, and over £100000 in grants, from funders such as the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund, the Department for International Development’s Development Awareness Fund, and Science Shops Wales. The funding has paid for the outdoor learning classrooms, environmental and development awareness projects, the permaculture design and a school gardener.
Edwardsville Primary School, in southern valley of the Merthyr Tydfil borough, will be launching the new permaculture design on the 3rd February, 3.45pm, when permaculture designer, Michele Fitzsimmons, presents her design to an open forum of parents, public and press.
For more information and links about this story please click on the following links:
South Wales Echo - "Children Dig Eco Lessons at School"
South Wales Echo - "Children Dig Eco Lessons at School" - online article
The very first RHS permaculture show garden, was exhibited at the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) Spring Flower Show Cardiff, in April 17 - 19 2009. Its a bit like the Chelsea Flower Show but on a smaller scale. The RHS award winning garden showed how it is possible to have a sustainable urban garden fit for life in the 21st century. It included an edible garden of perennial and annual, edible ornamental food plants, free range chicken tractor, a beehive, a wood store with an edible green roof, a compost bin, a wildlife pond, water butts and a narrow solar powered greenhouse with a heatsink (complete with seasonal veg) especially designed for small gardens which has a sliding door on both sides.
The new design commission to transform a small and mostly shady garden into an edible and productive garden is going well. The garden has now been planted put with a huge array of perennial edible plants including: Tiger Lily [Lilium lancifolium], Chinese Artichoke [Stachys affinis], Day lily [ Hemerocallis] plus a couple of compact Hazel nuts, soft fruit including an unusual shade tolerant soft fruit Schisandra chinensis as well as lots of shade tolerant edibles like: 3 Cornered Leek [Allium triquetrum], Sweet Violet [Viola odorata], Perpetual Spinach [Beta vulgaris cicla] , Rhubarb [Rheum x cultorum], Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum), Lemon Balm [Melissa officinalis] all will work as shade tolerant understorey plants. In sunny spots along the side wall, tomatoes, basil, peppers and various salad plants have been planted. 
There are now opportunities to partake in a guided tour of my edible garden. The tour consists of a leisurely but informed walk around my garden. I will Introduce you to a variety of unusual edible plants including many ornamental edibles. There will be an opportunity to taste the various plants in my garden and discuss the methods I have used to create a permaculture garden. The tours lasts one hour and are conducted throughout the year. The tour costs £10 per participant and will run with a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 10 participants. Please let me know via 
ichele, thanks so much
