Planting to Plate - What we did

Whole group and individual school and community activities

The specific objectives of the project were:

to appreciate the unique and special nature of the past, present and future of crofting
to enable children to learn about where food comes from and how it is produced
to promote the pleasures and benefits of growing and eating fresh, healthy local food
to encourage the children to be active and have fun while learning
to support sustainability in food production and consumption
to celebrate the place of food in the culture of the Highlands and Islands
to plan and organise a ‘Harvest Celebration’ event in Inverness to showcase some of the outputs of Planting to Plate and to eat a healthy meal of local food
to participate in a celebration where the produce of the project is sampled and enjoyed, and to have fun through meeting new people
to take an active part in celebrating the languages and playing the music of the Highland and Islands in the company of the other participating schools and invited guests
to gain confidence and self-esteem through performing and presenting.

The scope of activities in the Planting to Plate project was vast and varied because each pilot school has its own distinctive community. However, the common features of all four were:

opportunities were provided for the pupils to be active in exploring their local environments and engaging in all stages of crop production
an encouragement not only to grow but also, as the project title suggests, to prepare and eat healthy, locally produced food.

The range of learning activities and outcomes of the four schools is summarised here.

Study of crofting - past, present and future

Visit to crofting museums; this included ‘hands-on’ lessons in knitting and butter making; tasting the butter and taking some home for their families to share.
Crofting practices, past and present, were studied; this included much recall of ‘earlier days’ with information passed on through community members, including parents, by way of oral tradition; comparison between living in an old black house and living in a modern house.
Through a study of old photographs and implements and actual experience in today’s crofting landscape, the pupils were able to compare past and present methods and appreciate the influence of changing technology.
Residential stay, history trail and walks in local areas to study the physical environment.
Trips to other parts of Scotland to see other types of food production and rural industries.

Planting - on croft and in school grounds

Schools were given the use of croft land, some uncultivated for the past 30 years, by local families; the land was ploughed in traditional rigs/lazy beds before potatoes were planted by the children; in one school, the roughness of the terrain caused the plough to break on several occasions, making cultivation difficult.
Raised beds and containers were established in the more sheltered area of the school grounds; these involved the children in construction activities.
Potatoes, carrots, parsnips, runner beans, lettuce and mixed herbs were cultivated by the pupils; pupils were encouraged to taste all of these and soups were made from them.
Polytunnels were built and used in two schools to extend the range of crops and the cultivation period; this allowed the growing of strawberries and an opportunity for the children to pick and eat fruit they had grown themselves.
In one school, the growing of potatoes in containers was part of a Potato Council project, Count to Grow with Superspud. This involved a range of numeracy and IT skills such as measuring, graphing and weighing the crop and relating the yield to the number of potatoes planted.
The pupils were very active in all stages of production from digging, planting, collecting and spreading fertiliser, and soil testing to harvesting.

Local languages

Pupils learned Gaelic terms associated with crofting tasks and implements.
Pupils also learned Gaelic songs associated with working, eg a milking song.
They learned about history and landscape through Gaelic and Norse place names.
In Shetland, the local Whalsay dialect was used throughout the project.

Community involvement

Local crofters/families allowed the schools to plant rigs/lazy beds of potatoes and assisted the pupils; other crofters allowed a study of their crofts.

Parents helped with the ploughing and other aspects of ground preparation.
Local horticultural groups helped with constructing polytunnels and growing crops.
The pupils’ families and senior citizens were each given a bag of potatoes and some of the communities were invited to dig potatoes for their own use.
Local hotels were supplied with herbs from a raised bed in the school grounds.
Illustrated presentations and dramatic presentations were put on by the pupils.
Vegetables, fish and dairy and meat produce were provided by producers in each area.

Curriculum

The crofting project has enhanced the pupils’ literacy, communication and numeracy skills.
It provided an alternative form of physical activity in an outdoor setting.
It encouraged the development of practical skills in food production and increased the pupils' knowledge of the geography, history and culture of their local area.
The active learning and outdoor education aspects contributed to the schools’ involvement in the Health Promoting School, Eco-Schools and Active Schools initiatives.
Pupils’ participation in the activities and contribution to presentations helped meet the aims of Curriculum for Excellence; it made them more effective contributors, successful learners and more confident individuals, all contributing to greater self-esteem and helping them be responsible citizens.
In Whalsay, the project activities are integrated into an SQA Rural Skills course; this has been commended by the SQA and is part of the mainstream curriculum.
New on-site resources were provided for future nursery and primary classes to grow their own vegetables and salad crops and subsequently to taste them.

Cultural activities and local celebrations

All the pupils and the teachers at Kilchoan collaborated with the music and drama teacher to write and produce a radio play, ‘A Crofting Tale’; it was performed by the children at the local community centre and church.
Visiting music instructors taught the children working songs associated with crofting, eg milking and wauking songs in Gaelic.
A play, 'Donald and the Devious Devils', was produced by Farr pupils and performed at various locations in the community; they also produced a film, 'Farr Out Crofting'.
The project work was illustrated by the children’s paintings and woodcut illustrations.
Exhibitions of the work were combined with community fundraising events and harvest celebration meals prepared by the children using their own produce.
At Sgoil nan Loch, the children enjoyed learning formerly popular traditional board games - very different from their own technology-based leisure activities.
The pupils showed they had become effective contributors and confident individuals as they shared their experiences through exhibitions, presentations and performances both locally and in Inverness.

The Harvest Celebration

The project culminated in a two-day celebration of their harvest, attended by the children and staff from all four schools. This was a valuable educational and social experience in its own right since it allowed the young people from each school to learn from each other, to mix with adults and to experience a different part of their country. It consisted of:

a visit to Glachbeg Croft, an educational centre on the Black Isle, where a tour, educational activities and co-operative games ensured fun for all; a buffet meal made with produce provided by local producers added to the enjoyment
attending the second day of the Scottish Crofting Foundation gathering in Dingwall; this included a presentation by the project co-ordinator Pam Rodway and discussion groups where the young people had the opportunity to share experiences with the crofting representatives and talk about their vision of the future of crofting
session with folklorist Margaret Bennett, who presented a vivid description of life in a Skye croft in the 1950s
visit to Cawdor Castle
an evening meal and ceilidh at Inverness High School, where many of the young people experienced for the first time a large, formal gathering to enjoy a meal of local produce and take part in providing traditional entertainment.

Celebration dinner and ceilidh

The project participants and a number of distinguished guests gathered in Inverness High School to celebrate the harvest of potatoes and other vegetables grown in the school gardens and neighbouring crofts. The buffet dinner was prepared by the catering team from Inshes School, Inverness, and served with the assistance of pupils from Inverness High School.
The involvement of the High School is particularly appropriate since it has its own successful school horticultural project (REAL) and produces vegetables, fruit and herbs for sale in the local farmers’ market; this illustrates the possibility for similar projects in other urban areas.
All the ingredients on the menu were sourced from within the Highlands and Islands, highlighting the reality that a wide variety of high quality food is produced within the area, eg beef from Sutherland; fresh salmon, Hebridean and Blackface mutton from the Western Isles; Shetland lamb from Uradale Croft; smoked salmon from Moidart and Shetland Smokehouses; mackerel from Kilchoan; cheeses from Connage Highland Dairy and Wester Lawrenceton Farm; butter from Shetland Farm Dairies; and Benbecula oatcakes and beremeal bannocks from Burland Croft, Shetland.
In addition to the potatoes and other vegetables from the four schools, salad crops and vegetables were provided by local horticultural groups and Inverness High School.
Children from Lochs, Kilchoan and Whalsay baked oatcakes and shortbread.
Each school put on a display of work and made illustrated presentations to the gathering; these presentations are included on the Scottish Health Promoting Schools website version of this report: www.healthpromotingschools.co.uk
Presentations included photographs taken during the project, PowerPoint talks, Gaelic songs, traditional music and a film, all produced by the participants.
The dinner was followed by a ceilidh where the entertainment was also provided by the children and young people from the four schools.