YOUNGSTERS from Inverkip put their work gloves on to help create a magical pallet garden fit for a palace with help from the local community.
Pupils from Inverkip Primary School took a trip down the rabbit hole last week as they created an Alice in Wonderland-themed feature that will be entered into the Scone Place Garden Fair in Perthshire later this month.
The collaboration between the school and Blooming Inverkip is one which has been months in the making, and has seen the youngsters become keen gardeners by learning from the group’s volunteers.
(Image: George Munro)
(Image: George Munro) P2 pupils have been learning all about gardening and where their food comes from as part of a ‘farm to fork’ learning unit.
They’ve also been building their own garden in the playground with the help of Bob Russell, also known as ‘Blooming Bob’.
Once their pallets are finished, Bob will be transporting their beautiful work all the way to Scone Palace to be entered in the pallet garden competition.
Bob says he likes to put on his Blooming Bob character as they children get excited to be in the garden and get ‘really involved’.
He told the Tele: “It can sometimes be very difficult to find the time for everybody to come together for a collaboration like this, but it has worked out so perfectly.
(Image: George Munro)
(Image: George Munro)
“It’s always good fun and all the volunteers like coming out, especially on a sunny day like this. It’s an inter-generational thing for everyone to enjoy.”
In addition to their work with Bob, the pupils have also helped create a new children’s outdoor garden for the Inverkip Hotel.
The garden features potted plants contributed by each of the 22 children involved, as well as troughs of sweet peas put in place with the help of volunteers from the Inverkip Hub’s community garden.
After all of their hard work in the sun, the hotel hosted a Mad Hatters tea party which included plenty of sandwiches and sweet treats for children – and adults! – to enjoy.
Hotel owner Holly Dunn says she was excited to see the collaboration between the three community organisations come together and to have help creating a new play space for children at the hotel.
She said: “It only becomes a welcoming space like that if everyone is involved in the creation of it.”
(Image: George Munro)
(Image: George Munro) P2 teacherJaclyn McCready says the Alice in Wonderland theme came about because one of her pupils had been reading the book at home – with the hotel’s teal party ‘the icing on the cake’.
Jaclyn said: “The children are really taken by [the gardening] and they are all so enthusiastic about the learning.
“It’s all about building that link with the community. A big part of our education at the moment is learning outdoors, so this gets the kids out and gets them involved in gardening.
“The kids have been so inspired by Bob and the team [from Blooming Inverkip].
“They have all been brilliant with the kids. Even the quiet ones get involved when they are working with Bob.
“Parents say they go home and all they will talk about is plants and working in the garden.
“To have come away with that rich knowledge has been really inspiring for them.”