Growing together, rooted in community.

The Fare Community Allotments are an important part of our learning journey at Lochview Nursery School. Our children absolutely love attending every week and they learn so much about planting, growing and harvesting different foods. The children bring different fruits and vegetables back to the nursery, where they learn to cook different recipes with the foods they have harvested. They have cooked stir fry’s, different soups, roasted vegetables and vegetable rice. The children have developed many life skills such as cooking, meal preparation, following recipes, caring for plants and seeds and a whole lot more. All the learning that takes place at the allotments and continues back at the nursery, links to many learning outcomes that are part of the Curriculum for Excellence, some of which are health and wellbeing, science, literacy and numeracy.

When our children visit the allotments, they engage in other learning experiences. They learn about wildlife such as foxes, different species of birds, hedgehogs and different minibeasts. The children have learned about the life cycle of a frog, made hedgehog houses and bird feeders. The children explore different stories at the allotments by experiencing an interactive wooded area that links to the story “We’re going on a bear hunt” as well as the “The Gruffalo” and “The Hungry Caterpillar”.

The allotments is a haven for learning opportunities for our children, where they can connect with nature and fostering a relationship with the natural world. Our parents have had the opportunity to come along with their child at the end of a 6-week block. The parents see the value in the learning experiences that the children are immersed in and how this contributes to their learning, knowledge and understanding of the natural world.

Over the course of this academic year, our Primary 4 class has thoroughly enjoyed participating at the FARE allotment led by Susan. Her enthusiasm, knowledge and commitment to outdoor learning have created a rich and engaging experience for our pupils.

Susan carefully planned a wide range of cross-curricular activities, including gardening, growing and maintaining vegetables and flowers, observing tadpoles as they developed, creating artwork, and learning songs linked to their experiences. These hands-on opportunities helped pupils develop their understanding of the natural world while fostering creativity, responsibility and teamwork.

In addition to her work with Primary 4, Susan organised a range of exciting activities for the whole school during Maths Week Scotland. These were highly engaging and enjoyed by both staff and pupils, helping to bring learning to life in meaningful and memorable ways.

Pupil feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. The children particularly enjoyed maintaining the school garden, planting flowers and taking part in litter-picking activities to improve their local environment. When asked about their experiences, pupils described Susan as “amazing”, “fun” and a “friendly teacher”.

Susan has made a significant contribution to our school community, inspiring pupils to care for the environment and engage enthusiastically in outdoor learning. We are extremely grateful for the time, energy and expertise she has shared with our children.