The DfES invests in flower power
The DfES is spending £250k on a garden at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show to promote the benefits of taking learning outside the classroom. The project, which will see 20 schools working with landscape designer Chris Beardshaw, is being managed by Learning through Landscapes (LTL), the national school grounds charity and Farming and Countryside Education (FACE) on behalf of the DfES.
The schools and their students will contribute ideas to Bradshaw about how gardens can play ‘an important part in their education’. After the Hampton Court Show the garden will be moved to a permanent location in the north of England. While we are sure that this project fits with the government’s Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto and Growing Schools programme there must surely be better ways to spend this large sum of money in raising educational attainment?