Pupils share varied cultures through food

CHILDREN at a school where 80% of pupils come from ethnic minority backgrounds are sharing their varied cultures through a project about food.

Pupils at Greenfields Community School in The Meadows speak 27 languages but have discovered a common passion in growing vegetables.

Many of the children – most of whom also have very good English – come from countries where self-sufficiency is a way of life.

"It has been very interesting and exciting," said head teacher Terry Smith. "We have children who have good experience of growing vegetables in their home countries in Africa and Asia who have brought their own knowledge to this project and been able to share it with our other pupils."

The school has been supported by the charity Garden Organic, whose staff have worked with pupils and trained teachers.

Greenfields is also flagship school for the Food for Life Partnership, a national network of schools and communities led by the Soil Association, which aims to transform food culture by enabling access to seasonal, local and organic food, and to the skills people need to cook and grow fresh food.

As part of the project, which started in September 2007, dinner times at the school have already been made more grown-up with the use of proper plates instead of plastic trays, and cloths on the tables.

Children have also been involved in selecting menus which have then been used for their school meals.

The catering team for the school is currently working on making as much food as possible organic and locally-sourced, as part of a trial which could be rolled out to other schools in the country.

Every class at the school now has its own raised bed in which to grow vegetables, and this produce is used for school meals or taken home. The school also runs two popular gardening clubs.

Deputy head Chris Skeats will continue the international theme by planting crops associated with Indian cooking with her Year Five class this year. Plants will include chilli peppers, aubergines, coriander, onions, mangos and spinach.

Ms Skeats said: "This year Year Five have been learning about the Victorians and the Empire. In my class there are children from Malawi, Zimbabwe and Pakistan, so we can talk about the influence that India on particular has brought over to Britain."

caroline.lowbridge@ nottinghameveningpost.co.uk