At St Gabriel’s, this celebration feels especially meaningful, because gardening and outdoor learning are woven into the fabric of school life from Nursery through to Sixth Form.

Our youngest pupils in Toddlers and Pre‑School have been busy in their garden, sowing sunflower seeds, planting tomatoes and learning how to care for living things. Their enthusiasm is infectious — tiny hands, big excitement, and plenty of muddy knees.

In Key Stage 1, gardening becomes a regular part of the curriculum. Year 1 and 2 pupils tend their own vegetable garden during lessons and in Gardening Club, proudly nurturing seedlings, watering beds and caring for the school chickens. These early experiences help children understand where food comes from and why caring for the natural world matters.

Outdoor education continues well beyond the Junior School. We know how important time outside is for both physical and mental wellbeing, and how strongly young people today feel about protecting the planet. That’s why pupils in Years 7 to 9 have timetabled sustainability lessons — no homework, no coursework, just dedicated time to explore the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals and put them into practice.

Much of this work has centred on the development of our school garden, spearheaded by Mrs Cockar, our Director of Outdoor Education. Over the past year, pupils have been involved in every stage of the project: clearing the shrubland near the Sixth Form farmhouse, building and filling raised beds, planting and propagating, and creating decorative mini‑beasts and wildlife habitats, including beautifully designed bug hotels. Sixth Form students have also rolled up their sleeves during their enrichment afternoons, contributing energy, ideas and plenty of teamwork.

We are proud of the strong gardening and nature ethos that runs through St Gabriel’s. Our commitment has been recognised through the RHS School Gardening Awards — we recently achieved Level 3, with Level 4 firmly in our sights. We are also active supporters of the Newbury Nature Corridor Project and were delighted to win bronze in the Newbury in Bloom Awards.

National Children’s Gardening Week is a wonderful reminder of why this work matters. Gardening teaches patience, responsibility and resilience; it nurtures wellbeing; and it helps children feel connected to the natural world they will one day protect. At St Gabriel’s, we see those values growing every day — in every seed planted, every creature discovered, and every young person inspired to care for our planet.