Edible Playground

The edible playground was built by the charity Edible Playgrounds, which is part of Trees for Cities which transform areas in school grounds into vibrant outdoor spaces that excite and teach children about growing and eating healthy food.

By instilling healthy eating habits at an early age, edible playgrounds help tackle obesity, food poverty and lack of access to nature head-on, and provide a platform for fun and engaging lessons that support the school curriculum.

The edible playgrounds are designed specifically for each school and elements include: an outdoor classroom area, raised beds for growing fruit, vegetables and herbs, fruit trees, a green house and a composting area.

Here at Saracens Bell Lane we recognise that however important examination results are, education goes beyond simply grades. Pupils need a variety of interpersonal skills together with the resilience to cope with the demands of our changing world. We are working with our partners at the charity Trees for Cities to transform an area of our school site into an edible playground and mindfulness area. We are very fortunate to have sponsorship from Bulb which is a renewable energy supplier. They have generously given the school ¾ of the funds needed to create an area where students can grow food whilst growing stronger as people.

The edible playground aims to address several key areas of concern around children’s health. We will teach pupils about nutrition, encourage physical activity, and show how students grow their own food in and outside school helping with food poverty. The edible playground works for lessons on healthy eating, growing food and so on but it’s also a teaching resource to use across the entire curriculum. For example, maths can be taken outside to measure yield and the dimensions of crops as they grow.