London: St Gregory's wins national garden competition

Harvesting strawberries

St Gregory's Catholic Science College in Kenton, west London, has won 'Best School Garden' in a national garden competition run by TV gardener David Domoney's Cultivation Street - a campaign to promote and support community and school garden projects.

Over the last six years St Gregory's school garden has been transformed from two areas of unused wasteland into a thriving Eco Garden, which is now used for various educational purposes not only for St Gregory's pupils, but also for pupils from local primary schools and a children's nursery school. The Eco Garden has also been the inspiration behind Eco Schools projects, helping them to become an Eco Schools Green Flag School twice.

In addition, the Garden has been the inspiration behind various community projects, such as working with a primary school to plant 1000 daffodils in a local park, transforming a run-down 20foot wall in the local park by designing and painting a vibrant mural, weeding and maintaining a flower bed at the entrance to the local park and working with the local Traders Association to encourage traders to sponsor and install flower baskets along the local High Street.

Since the transformation of the Eco Garden, the school has also developed a memorial garden, vegetable and fruit patch, refurbished the pond and got a beautiful mural painted onto, what was, an ugly looking wall. The garden is used throughout the year for science lessons, a weekly gardening club, reflection in the remembrance garden and as a host for visits from other schools and nurseries.

Headteacher, Mr Andrew Prindiville, said: "The pupils and staff at St Gregory's Catholic Science College are thrilled to win Cultivation Street's School Garden category. St Gregory's Garden not only supports our pupils' learning across many aspects of the school curriculum; it has become a source of learning and inspiration for other local schools and has been influential in helping us to build partnerships with local community groups. This fantastic achievement reflects the hard work of our dedicated staff and pupils and the wonderful support we have received from our local community."

David said: "This school has made their big ideas a reality, it must be a marvellous place to learn gardening as a child, the teachers and supporters have created something special for both the children and the community. The reuse of wasteland and carrying work out in the community has a ripple effect. The use of art in the garden with the memorial piece combined with growing gives interest to a wider range of children."

Visit ICN's Facebook page for more pictures.