Horticulture is just perfect for pupils with SEN, writes five-times Chelsea Gold Medal winner Adam Frost
Since the start of this academic year, I’ve travelled to Morocco, the south of France and Singapore to design gardens for clients. I’ve set up an apprenticeship scheme with one of the UK’s biggest chains of DIY and garden centres and I’ve had my design accepted for a show garden at RHS Chelsea 2014. Just as rewarding for me, though, has been my new role working on a series of projects with children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) and young people with autism and complex needs.
As Horticulture Ambassador for Acorn Care and Education, I’ve been working with some extraordinary pupils and teachers, and it’s confirmed something I had always thought. My world – the world of horticulture – is perfect for pupils with SEN, whether it’s accessed via the curriculum or as therapeutic care.
What each child gets out of it is different. For some, it’s an opportunity to get stuck in and burn off some of their energy tackling some heavy, physical tasks. Other children get a real sense of peace in the garden and a sense of solace. For all of us, gardening can offer a therapeutic escape from our problems. It’s a calm natural environment, where the senses come alive, while an indoor classroom can be busy and hectic.
A garden offers excellent cross curricular opportunities, be they in art, biology, chemistry, design, English, geography, history, maths, physics or even Latin. However, it’s not just the benefits to the curriculum that are important; it’s the enjoyment of what horticulture provides that can be so important for these pupils. I’ve watched dozens of pupils with SEBD engage so much better when they are out “doing” horticulture with me rather than sitting “learning” about it in a classroom. Gardening brings learning to life and makes it so much more fun.
Planting the seed
At Crookhey Hall School in Lancashire, the Horticulture Department sits next to the vocational workshop for woodwork, bricklaying, and mower maintenance, so with the support of the staff, we’ve embarked on an ambitious project to turn a field into a wildlife garden. We started by taking measurements and creating a design, just as I would do for a client or a leading show like RHS Chelsea.
Every one of the pupils in the horticulture classes has a spark and finding that spark in each of them is the key thing. It’s wonderful to watch these young people engage with what we’re doing. It’s brilliant when you see them “get it”.
Eugene Magee, one of the personal tutors at the school, confirmed the pupils’ progress to me: “In horticulture, pupils respond to straightforward tasks and can see their own achievements. There is the instant gratification of a job well done that improves self-esteem and confidence”, he said. “Horticulture enables pupils to find their own feet. In an outside environment pupils don’t have the perception that there is a teacher breathing down their neck. It gives them a freedom and many of them respond very well.
“Classroom based learning tends to be a series of projects looking towards a longer based goal. That can be the same in the garden; you might be planting garlic for use in the school kitchen next year, but there are more visual and identifiable achievements along the way – from sowing to growing, and on to harvesting and eventually cooking and eating. That relevance is really important.
“It brings meaning and relevance to learning. Measuring the perimeter of a classroom means nothing in comparison with measuring the perimeter of a flower bed to help you decide how many plants you need. Learning is no longer abstract; it’s physical and right there in front of you.”
Headteacher Robin Adams also believes that horticulture can make a big difference to how pupils behave. “It definitely helps some boys’ behaviour”, he says. “Some of our pupils incorporate horticulture into their behaviour management plans. Getting outside, into the natural outdoor environment of a garden, definitely has a calming effect for some of the pupils. If boys have been used to sitting in their rooms playing computer games – where success is all about “levelling up” – to get outside and plant something, grow it, harvest it and take it home to be eaten, or cook it in school, gives our students a very real and tangible sense of achievement.”
Positive growth
At Underley Garden, a day and residential school in Cumbria, the head of horticulture Henry Fleming runs an impressive department with fruit, vegetables, herbs, a willow arch and poly tunnels. He is now developing an orchard and woodland garden in the grounds, where students can practice community based projects such as dry stone walling. He explained to me how children with autism and other learning difficulties can benefit both in terms of curriculum support and therapeutic care. “Horticulture is a subject that can really help children with autism make sense of the world,” says Henry. “Our approach to therapeutic care is also very important for our young people. It gives us a kinaesthetic, sensory, hands-on approach. It offers students the whole life experience of seeing things grow. It’s an outdoor sensory classroom, where pupils can see the colours, feel the breeze, smell the scent of herbs and flowers. Horticulture is like the whole world in microcosm.”
Lev, an 18-year-old who recently gained a Level 2 certificate in practical horticulture skills, has clearly got a great deal out of his time in the garden: “A lot of my life has been about bad times, but in the garden it’s been all good”, he says. “I love the banter, the humour and the good times we’ve all enjoyed together. The food from the school garden – when you have put the hard work in yourself – tastes absolutely amazing.”
When 11-year-old Niall, who has autism, started as a day pupil, his parents worried about how he would cope with horticulture. They needn’t have been concerned; within three months, horticulture had become his favourite subject. “I absolutely love gardening because I like watching things grow”, says Niall. “I’ve planted beans, cabbages and strawberries here. The middle bit of the strawberry plant is where the fruit grows. The petals will all fall off and you’re left with a real strawberry.” You can hear the wonder in Niall’s voice as he recounts what he’s seen and learnt.
At The Grange Therapeutic School near Oakham, pupils with SEBD will be designing, building and planting one of the biggest beds for Melton in Bloom 2014. I’m looking forward to seeing it take shape. Richard Wilcock, Head of Behaviour Management at the school says that “Horticulture offers tremendous social interaction. I’ve seen pupils who can be extremely introverted mixing and enjoying the company of other boys, which is huge progress.”
Synaptic pruning
The good natured banter which is part and parcel of the horticultural world is important to us all. Gill Hughes, the Headteacher of Oakfield School near Preston, explains how their Eco-Garden outside space now benefits both her pupils with SEBD and children with autism and Asperger’s syndrome. “We can tell when all the children have spent some time outside because they’re calmer and they have less anxiety”, she says. “In a classroom, things change constantly; one minute you’re sitting at a table doing numeracy, the next minute you’re sitting at the same table doing literacy and the next minute you might be sitting at a table eating your lunch. So the use of a table changes and we’re asking a child with autism or Asperger’s syndrome to interpret those changes, which is difficult for them.
“For a child with autism, if unexpected things happen in the garden, it is easier for them to deal with. If a blackbird pops up in front of them, they won’t feel startled, whereas an event which takes them by surprise inside school is much harder for them to cope with. Children with autism can’t play as other children do. A lot of their sensory problems are caused because they’re not doing the ‘rough and tumble’ that other children do. They’re not getting the synaptic pruning and neurologically they’re not able to make efficient use of their sensory input, so they have to be taught how to play. Nature is, in an autistic child’s world, under their control and outside space is more predictable and consistent for them.”
A successful harvest
Gardening has been a major part of my life ever since I can remember, so I don’t need convincing about the benefits that horticulture can offer anyone and everyone. Having been diagnosed with dyslexia, I understand what it’s like to be terrified of words. I really struggle with joining lots of words together, but I have always been able to learn and remember plants names in Latin.
One of my classes has just learnt that a silver birch tree is called a “Betula” and they also learnt why we have Latin names for plants (so that plants can be identified all over the world whatever language is spoken). Some of the lads will remember that, and they’ll use it somewhere at some stage, and it’ll give them a bit of confidence. So much is about confidence and self-esteem for these youngsters. On top of that though, horticulture can provide these young people with viable, sustainable skills that can offer them real career prospects.
Horticulture is my world and I love it. I never dreamt it would bring me gold medals and a successful career. It has opened up a world for me that I didn’t know existed. And if I can do it, some of these young people can do it too, if they want it enough.
Author: Adam Frost
Adam Frost
International garden designer Adam Frost is one of the UK’s leading horticulturalists and the winner of five RHS Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medals. He is also Horticulture Ambassador for Acorn Care and Education:
www.acorncare.co.uk
The Royal Horticultural Society has published reports on the benefits of gardening for all children, and those with SEN in particular. You can find them at:
www.rhs.org
