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The Living Classroom at Penryn College – Mission Update!

It’s coming to an incredibly exciting time for Penryn College as we move closer to the opening of our Living Classroom project and the first of our planting events.

Since moving in to our new school site in September, the Eco-Schools Biodiversity team have been planning the development of the school grounds to reflect their interest in conservation and sustainability with areas identified for a technology garden, Organic Farm, Conservation zone, sustainable design area, sensory garden and mini Eden biome.

Over the last year they have been holding a series of planning meetings with local horticultural students, experts and conservationists to produce a plan for each site.  So far they have a completed the plan for the technology garden encompassing plants for food as well as plants for care, for medicine, for textiles and for buildings.  The hope is the students in technology lessons will choose plants from the garden for their recipes as well as design projects.  The planting event for this is to be held on 23rd May involving the students, staff, the experts and the local community including parents and brothers and sisters.  All plants have been donated by local nurseries and farms with tools donated by local businesses.

The next event is planning for the conservation zone around the school grounds.  The team have already held a first meeting to identify what could be achieved across the school and now tomorrow they will meet with our Conservation Expert to produce a planting plan and biodiversity ‘mood board’ with all the things they would like to develop across the site to encourage wildlife.

Next week sees the first planning event for the Organic Farm which now has two 15ft polytunnels in place.  Students from the Biodiversity team as well as the Energy team and Enterprise team are meeting with local experts to come up with a plan for development.  The aim is to grow produce to sell to the local community and businesses through our school shop.  The aim is also to start keeping chickens so the school canteen can use them at the breakfast club.

We will keep you informed as we go and look out for the pictures as we develop the site.

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