Greenfingered pupils dig gardening project

GREEN FINGERED pupils at Lisneal College have been germinating ways to beat the credit crunch and go green in line with their curriculum.

Four pupils have been getting their hands dirty tucked away behind the technology department, all in the name of learning more about possible career paths and horticulture. They are Year 11 pupils Aidan Concannon, Andrew Jones and Robert McClay, who are 15, and 14-year-old Stephen Hyndman, from Year 10, who have been working with classroom assistants Sharon McLaughlin and Serena Connolly, who are overseeing the project work.

“The project started in February this year when one of the pupils, Aidan, approached me and said he had an interest in gardening. He knew that I grew my own vegetables at home and he was looking for some advice on gardening,” said Sharon of the small beginnings.

Next the classes were approached to see who else was interested in taking part and the principal of the school was asked for permission to plant the seeds of the green venture, and from that the boys’ plots grew.

Their progress is being recorded in a photo diary.

Not to be left out, the wider school community also got involved by donating plastic bottles which the boys used like mini-greenhouses for outside planting work, and with a nod to recycling they also collected used polystyrene cups from the canteen, which they used to plant out their seedlings.

Teacher Michael Quigley works with Stephen during school hours, but the three Year 11 boys work after school.

“The older boys even came in over the Bank Holiday/St Patrick’s Day to work and worked for the full day,” said Sharon, who said what the boys grew was decided after research projects to discover what would be most suitable.

“Each of the pupils made their own raised beds out of recycled crates, and each pupil prepared the soil and plants from seedlings and looked after them in a greenhouse. Their careers class is very much linked with this project in that they were all researching jobs they might like for future employment. This project was also to give them some skills they could use to their own benefit in the home, as well as for future employment,” said Sharon.

Aidan, from Nelson Drive, who got the ball rolling, said he had been inspired by his grandfather, Joseph Concannon, who was an avid gardener.

“Granda was a gardener and also did a bit of gardening in my back garden and I wanted to follow on from that and learn more. It is enjoyable, but it is a bit more work than I thought it might be,” he said, adding that he was considering a possible career in horticulture.

Andrew, meanwhile, said: “I wanted to learn how to grow my own fruit and veg and I thought it would be good because of the credit crunch because everything is increasing in price. My mother is expecting great things for the dinner table.”

Asked what he liked so much about gardening he said: “It just that you grow it and all and you eat it when it’s done. I’m growing strawberries, potatoes, carrots, cabbage and gooseberries.”

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