The Art Department welcomed 30 Year 6 students from Dewhurst St Mary Primary School today as part of our Festival of Learning programme. They spent the morning creating their own ‘Sunflower’ designs, experimenting with oil pastels and paints on canvas. It was a pleasure to teach them! It was a productive and creative 90 minutes of learning.
Introduction
A few months ago, our school embarked on a journey that has transformed both our outdoor space and our community. We decided to set up a school garden—a space where students, teachers, and in the future, the local community could come together to learn, grow, and connect with nature, primarily to support positive mental health.
The Vision
The idea for the garden came from the evidence-based research that was published in April 2021 by RHS scientists Professor Alistair Griffiths and Dr Lauriane Chalmin-Pui that proves how gardening benefits our mental, physical and social wellbeing. Our garden is inspired by ‘The Vitamin G’ garden that exhibited in the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival in 2022 which provided visitors with a daily dose of ‘vitamin G’.
Our space would be somewhere that students could learn about nature and how it could support their wellbeing. It would also provide an opportunity for students to develop a sense of responsibility and care for their environment.
Our idea was submitted to The Borough of Broxbourne and was then only possible due to their generous funding.
Planning and Preparation
Creating the garden was a collaborative effort from the start. Students were asked to design a garden space that they wanted to see and use as part of their school. We were inundated with ideas and these contributed to the planning phase. We selected a sunny spot on the school field that was underutilised, transforming it from a patch of grass into a vibrant garden space. We divided the area into two, one for an allotment with raised beds, shed and greenhouse and the other with sensory planting and benches.
Using the funding we were awarded we stocked the shed with the necessary tools and bought a variety of plants and seeds ready to sow.
The Planting
We took a ‘no dig’ approach to setting up the garden, which meant avoiding breaking up, lifting or turning the soil, leaving the soil undisturbed as much as is practical. This technique recognises that micro- and macro-biotic organisms constitute a ‘food web’ community in the soil, necessary for the healthy cycling of nutrients and prevention of problematic organisms and diseases. We achieved this by placing layers of cardboard on the grass and then putting the compost on top. Once the garden beds were ready, the real fun began. Two lunchtime clubs were set up for students which ran weekly. Once the seeds had started growing following their first few weeks in the greenhouse, we were able to plant them straight into the compost in our raised beds. Students were excited to get their hands dirty, planting seeds and seedlings while learning about the life cycle of plants. Students got involved with recycling and sustainability by using the compost bins and collecting water from the rainwater collection system and water butt.
It wasn’t just about planting, though. The garden became a space where students could learn about teamwork and responsibility. They took turns watering the plants, weeding the beds, and monitoring the growth of their crops.
“The club is a fun and relaxing place to plant and chill with friends at lunchtime” commented one student.
Growth and Learning
As the garden grew, so did our students. They learnt about the importance of patience and perseverance, as some crops took more time than others. They also learnt about failure and resilience when some plants didn’t thrive, and how to adapt and try again.
The garden also served as a powerful tool for teaching about sustainability as well as the importance of biodiversity. They saw first-hand how organic gardening practices can help protect the environment and now some of the students have been inspired to grow plants in their gardens.
Harvesting
Harvest time was a celebration in itself. The work students put in was greatly rewarded with giant fruit and vegetables that they enjoyed taking home and sharing with their families.
One student remarked “I was lucky enough to take home one of the largest courgettes I have ever seen to make my mum and dad a nice meal…!”
We also gave some of our produce to Caterlink, who provide the school meals. It then appeared on the lunch menu as a vegetarian main option, which proved very popular.
It was a delicious way to connect the dots between growing food and eating healthy.
Looking Ahead
Our school garden is still young, but it has already become an integral part of our school culture. We’re excited to see how the garden continues to grow—both in terms of the plants and the learning opportunities it provides. It’s a project that will continue to evolve, just like our students.
The creation of our school garden has been a rewarding experience for everyone involved. It’s more than just a place to grow plants; it’s a place to grow minds, friendships, and a deeper appreciation for the world around us. As our garden flourishes, so too does our community.
You can find out what the future holds in the next blog by our ‘Garden Guardians’.
Across the key headline performance measures St Mary’s has surpassed previous years’ outcomes, especially at Grades 7 and above, making this a wonderful set of results for the students, and allowing them to enrol on to their Sixth Form courses of choice.
Head Teacher Mr Richard Vaughan congratulated the students: “Following St Mary’s success at A Level last week, the school is incredibly proud of the results gained by our Year 11 cohort and the standards that they set themselves. They fully deserve such an excellent set of results; it is just reward for the commitment, dedication and resilience that they have shown.
We are delighted with what our students have achieved, and they are testament to the ethos of the whole St Mary’s community. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our wonderful staff, parents/carers and families for their constant support.”
Many of the cohort will be staying on at St Mary’s to pursue their A Level, BTEC and Level 3 qualifications, safe in the knowledge that St Mary’s is achieving excellent outcomes for its students.
Kindly also check: A Year of Incredible Results!
We are immensely proud of the hard work, dedication and perseverance shown by our students and they have reaped the rewards that they deserve.
The whole St Mary’s community are delighted with the continued progress of our students, seeing a 9 % increase in A-B grades, a 10% increase in A-C grades and almost 50% of BTEC/Applied General results at Distinction* or Distinction. This is thanks in no small part to the commitment, expertise and dedication of our staff in their unrelenting support of our students.
This means our students are able to pursue their destination of choice, ranging from Russell Group Universities to prestigious School Leaver Programmes and Apprenticeships.
Destinations include (amongst many others) Queen Mary University of London, Brunel University, Queen’s Belfast, Loughborough, King’s College London, Sussex and Bath to study courses such as Computer Science with Industrial Experience, Biomedical Sciences, Philosophy and Modern Languages, Engineering, Geography and Economics.
We also have students undertaking apprenticeships with Thickbroom Chartered Accountants, with all of them having so many more life opportunities following their results.
Congratulations to this cohort. We send them on to the next stage of their futures with our very best wishes, thoughts and prayers.
Kindly also check: Impressive GCSE results achieved by St Mary’s students
On Friday, 12th July, St Mary’s hosted its highly anticipated Annual Summer Concert, an evening brimming with exceptional performances from our talented Phoenix Singers choir, soloists, and a professional band. This event is a cherished tradition that showcases the incredible musical talent within our school community, providing an invaluable opportunity for our performers to shine.
The concert featured a diverse array of musical pieces, highlighting the dedication and hard work of our students and the supportive guidance of their tutors. The atmosphere was electric as the Phoenix Singers choir opened the evening with the classic ‘Blame it on the Boogie’ , setting the tone for a night to remember.
A highlight of the evening was the spirited sing-a-long performance of “Wonderwall,” where members of our guitar club joined in, creating a wonderful ensemble. The audience enthusiastically participated.
We were also privileged to have a special guest in attendance—Ose, an ex-St Marian, and it took very little encouragement to persuade him to grace the stage for an impromptu performance of “Easy Like Sunday Morning.” His rendition was met with rapturous applause, a testament to the lasting impact of St Mary’s musical legacy.
The success of the concert would not have been possible without the dedication of our performers, the support of our professional band, and the enthusiastic participation of the audience. We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who attended and contributed to making this event a resounding success.
Our latest Scholars cohort, which consisted of 26 students from Year 7 and Year 9, graduated on 1st July at The Bayes Business School London. Our Year 7 students studied War and our Year 9 students studied Horror-Comedy . They received weekly tutorials from a PhD tutor and had to submit a final assignment which was graded at university levels. All students excelled in their final assignment and consistently worked hard with several students receiving a 1st. During the graduation visit students had a tour of the university, worked with students from other schools to market a new brand where they worked together as a team to gather new ideas and gave a presentation at the end. They got to hear from other students studying at the university and some who have just graduated. We also got to hear from the universities associate dean Dr Ioannis Moutzouris.
We are immensely proud of all students that took part. Well done Scholars!
2023/24 has been a busy year for the two Young Enterprise teams where they have won 5 awards, participated in multiple trading events, primary school summer fairs and delivered outstanding presentations at the final event at the University of Hertfordshire.
As part of the programme in line with our Christian ethos both teams have one share allocated to a charity of their choice which receives profits the same as their own shares and this year both of our teams ensured that the Christoforos Charity Foundation was selected in honour of their friend and peer Christopher who they all miss very much.
In addition, the teams carried a donation bucket to every event to help where they explained all about the charity to the public so more money could be raised and some students were able to donate all of their share and profits to the charity.
In total they raised £435.32 which was presented to Christopher’s parents George and Areti in our remembrance garden where we also planted a beautiful yellow rose bush. We are very proud of all of our students in both the Young Enterprise teams and we would like to thank them for representing our community so professionally and respectfully.
On Thursday 20th June, St Mary’s proudly held its annual GCSE and A Level Art & Textiles Exhibition. It was a wonderful collection of our talented student’s hard work and dedication. The school’s atrium was beautifully transformed into a Gallery show casing our student’s fantastic creative skills and talents. It was wonderful to see so many students, parents, teachers and friends of St Mary’s attending the event and celebrating our student’s success’.
Students and staff were treated last week to a visit by the Usborne Book Fair, which came into school with a huge variety of books to choose from. This proved very popular with students, and it is great to know so many of our young people enjoy reading and want to broaden their minds.
