Nature Workshop

The Maine Centre garden is being transformed into an interactive learning space, and with the help of some Charters students and Mr Watts, the area is really taking shape. This week we were incredibly fortunate to receive a donation of flowers and herbs from local business Little Muddy Boots. The array of plants were part of their Children's Garden at last week's Royal Windsor Flower Show, and the company's founder not only gifted them to the school but also took time out of her busy schedule to deliver a workshop to the students.

Hannah explained how to prepare the soil, plan a planting scheme and look after the plants which included herbs such as fennel, sage and rosemary and colourful plants such as white astilbe, purple salvia and lilac campanula.

The planting scheme is a curated palette of pastel shades which not only look attractive, but will encourage biodiversity in the plot; attracting bees, butterflies and other pollinators.

When asked what motivated her to donate the show garden to Charters Hannah said, "Our core mission at Little Muddy Boots is to get more children - of any age - outside in nature regularly and for them to reap the positive mental wellbeing that comes from gardening. When we were asked to create the Children’s Garden at The Royal Windsor Flower Show, it seemed a great opportunity to collate plants that boost local biodiversity and that could be gifted to a fantastic local school like Charters to be enjoyed long after the show. We are grateful for Berkeley Group and Ascot Rotary for their generosity to ensure the volume of plants gifted make a significant impact and gave us the opportunity to engage the students right from the start with a gardening workshop."

Mr Watts, who is works regularly with groups of students in the developing garden said, "Our students are benefitting greatly from working as a team on practical tasks outdoors and this is only possible with the generous donations of time and resources that organisations like Little Muddy Boots, Ascot Rotary and Berkley Homes have given. Redeveloping the Maine Centre garden into a multi-purpose interactive learning space is giving our young people a sense of community and pride not possible in traditional classroom settings. We look forward to seeing our students and garden continue to thrive and grow."

We are extremely grateful to Hannah for her generosity in donating the garden to our school, and we must give a special mention to Berkeley Homes who sponsored the Children's Garden at the flower show.