SKOOL BEANZ GARDENING CLUB

Skool Beanz CIC is a gardening club for children run by myself and a small team of volunteers in Chilthorne Domer near Yeovil. It started as an after-school gardening club at the primary school in June 2019 after I was inspired by Greta Thunberg and her Fridays for Future school strikes with young people around the world standing up for our planet. The club was so popular, I dreamed of creating a no-dig garden specifically for children where they can learn to grow food and flowers and how to garden to help nature with plenty of art thrown in and, above all, fun.

An allotment in the village became available and then the Covid pandemic started, providing the perfect opportunity to use the lockdowns to get to work. Different areas were designed including a huge dahlia bed, veg patches, fruit trees, a worktable area, a rainwater collecting station, ‘Muddy Buddy’ compost bays (named by a 6-year-old Skool Bean) and a quiet wildlife garden with a tiny pond.

Saturday gardening club at the allotment started in April 2021, for 2 hours every week until Christmas, moving to the village hall when it got too cold and continued in 2022 from March through to Christmas. I also teach gardening at the school – using the allotment – on Fridays. Last year the Skool Beanz allotment expanded joining the plot next door. A secret den was added, more veg beds, some community-raised beds and a brand new polytunnel kindly gifted by no-dig market gardener Charles Dowding who I used to work for. This year I hope to host more weekday sessions and holiday clubs throughout Easter and the summer. With 1 in 6 children suffering from poor mental health and the UK being one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, children and nature need each other more than ever. It has been a joy to see the garden brimming with life over the past two years. Watching the children become confident gardeners picking buckets of dahlias, planting garlic, mulching beds with homemade compost, holding an elephant hawk moth, climbing the tree in the secret den and devouring handfuls of raspberries are life-affirming moments. It’s about creating happy memories and learning skills that they can pass on to their own children and grandchildren. There is something magical about nurturing a tiny seed and seeing it grow into food that will keep you alive or a flower that provides nectar for a bee. Nature is the answer to everything.

If you have a child aged 6-13 who is interested in gardening and you would like more information about Skool Beanz, please contact Lara on skoolbeanzcic@gmail. com or find them on Instagram and Facebook @skoolbeanz

The Skool Beanz allotment will be open to the public for the National Garden Scheme open days on Saturday 15th April and Saturday 12th August 2023.

Belonging

Dan Chiappa-Patching, Boarding Housemaster, Sherborne Prep

Ilove my school. As Boarding Master at Sherborne Prep it’s an easy thing for me to say as my school is also my home. My wife and children live here. I belong.

My aim has always been to engender this same feeling within the children – a sense of home, a sense of belonging. Not always easy as children are notoriously difficult to please (apologies to those children reading this!) and they are – shock horror – all different! How can we provide for each of them an environment that caters to their individual needs and allows them all to feel like they belong? Ultimately, why would we want to do this? It’s school - it’s where children go to learn - surely that shouldn’t be fun?!

Quite simply, a child who feels like they belong is one who is motivated to learn, grow and explore. And this is what school is about. Children should feel safe and comfortable and they should be understood in their environment and among their peers. They should feel accepted for who they are and indeed for whom they want to be.

Maslow highlighted this as far back as 1943 when he suggested that for an individual to be able to self-actualise (big term for the self-motivation of an individual to reach their full potential), each one of the prior needs must be met. Not surprisingly one of the needs is love/belonging. It has become a buzzword recently, and rightly so, and yet it can be so intangiblehow do we know that we belong?

If you have a chance to step into a Pre-Prep classroom, the junior form rooms, or the boarding house, you will find areas that are brimming with love. Teachers know that students’ work on walls makes them feel valued and proud of what they have achieved, that a cosy nook where they can curl up and read a book provides a safe space and that drop-in prep sessions relieve anxiety and engender independence. The Art and Music rooms allow them to explore and create - for the joy of it. Sports and PE focus on being part of a team. Lessons provide academic rigour and challenge. Break time allows for friendships to grow and an exploration of identity. The table football and pool table in the games room provide a focus for a friendly contest. Saturday activities provide a smorgasbord of variety. Surely there is something for everyone? sherborneprep.org

But belonging is not just about the space one occupies and feels comfortable in, it is about the support given to an individual to find their own identity when they don’t feel that they belong. Supportive staff and student listeners who take the time to help a child that feels out of place. This in itself is a huge part of belonging - a sense of community, where everyone knows each other.

We are well versed in guiding children to try new things and providing opportunities for a variety of experiences so a child can begin to travel from ‘Who am I?’ to ‘Who I am.’ Children are naturally inquisitive – they are voracious devourers of information, fads and trends. They are chameleons because they don’t yet know who they are. We are helping them find where they belong.

Pressing Pause

Louise Troup, Assistant Head, Pupil Aspiration and Wellbeing, Sherborne Girls

Across the country, we are seeing a decline in teen mental health, with 18% of those aged 7-16 suffering a mental health disorder in the last NHS survey. This rises to 22% of those aged 17-24. The impact of smartphones on teenage mental health, compounded by the lockdowns, is still being measured. But as educators, we already know that it is enormous and largely negative.

At Sherborne Girls, we take teen mental health very seriously and always have. We are also conscious of the need to innovate and so this year we have introduced a raft of initiatives to respond to the pressures on our girls and to improve their wellbeing. The creation of my position, Assistant Head, Pupil Aspiration and

Wellbeing, is an exciting and meaningful evolution. Working alongside Jessica Briggs, our Deputy Head Pastoral, and a fantastic pupil leadership team, we are putting wellbeing at the heart of everything we do. Our three Upper Sixth Wellbeing Prefects now have a team of twelve Lower Sixth ambassadors across the School, working in-house to help the girls manage their own wellbeing better - giving them a real sense of control over their own lives.

We have been radical with our mobile phone policy too. This year we introduced two phone-free days every week. This has dramatically reduced screen time and facilitated better and more positive relationships between the girls. The return to reading for pleasure amongst the Lower Fifth, initiated by the English Department, has been a joy to behold.

But we felt we could go even further. With the full support of our Head, Dr Ruth Sullivan, we decided to do something truly radical, and in a sense, counter-intuitive for a school, in suspending traditional education for a whole day to accommodate Press Pause Day.

We wanted to see what creating a truly genuine space in our working lives and, sharing it with the whole Sherborne Girls community, could do for the girls and staff. We wanted to see how the girls would respond to a screen-free - and lesson-free day – and just ‘being’ together.

So, how did Press Pause Day look? Well, that depended on everyone’s choices. Pupils and staff were given the opportunity to design their own perfect day, made up of six different sessions. We based our ideas on three core concepts: creativity, physical activity and mental wellbeing. On offer was a range of activities, from art and craft workshops, gardening classes, wellbeing and mindfulness talks, group singing, cookery (or just ‘tea and cake’ sessions), quiet reading, colouring and yoga, to dance and fitness classes, five- and tenkilometre runs, golf, or whole day walks for those who love exercise and the outdoors. Girls and staff also enjoyed a brilliant ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ stand-up comedy show and were invited to a Mamma Mia Sing-a-Long.

The day started with a much-anticipated lie-in, followed by a delicious, healthy breakfast specially chosen by our Food and Wellbeing Prefects. Our student Wellbeing Team was instrumental in helping to design and deliver the day and designed beautiful Press Pause Day spaces in the houses where the girls could snuggle up and wind down together. House staff chose a special lunch for the girls and, of course, helped to make the day happen by taking turns to stay at the helm. sherborne.com

We sought in-depth feedback from across the staff and pupil body, and their comments exceeded our expectations. Staff and pupils were fulsome in their praise.

So, what did we learn?

We learned that working together in groups on creative activities creates a genuine sense of wellbeing and personal achievement. Just ‘doing’ something together facilitates relaxed conversation and helps us to get to know each other.

We learned that mixing ages and abilities and creating a non-competitive environment helped the whole community experiment and laugh together. We were all novices together – be it learning to gospel sing or plant bulbs!

We learned that we all need to be given the space to stop and think about our mental health.

We learned to be grateful for what we have.

Press Pause Day was just that – a day for the whole Sherborne Girls community to stop, relax, unwind, laugh, and reflect together. I think that it has set a new benchmark for us in Wellbeing and reminded us all of the importance of making a space for creativity and ‘real’ conversation within our community.

Let us hope we can ‘Press Pause’ every year.

Pathfinders

Alex Boyd-Williams, Deputy Head (Sixth Form), Sherborne School

The Careers Team at Sherborne School is devoted to helping each boy find the best pathway for him as an individual. There are an infinite number of possibilities: university in the UK; university overseas; an apprenticeship; a degree apprenticeship; traditional training in the arts; more contemporary training in the arts; employment; selfemployment; gap year etc. We want the boys to be informed about what is out there, and also to be filled with the self-belief and confidence to know that with hard work and ambition they could access the very best pathways in the world.

We are fortunate to have a skilled, informed and dedicated team of five colleagues in the Careers Team and a wider team of supportive tutors working together to care for the boys and their families. We have staff focused on the following areas: UK university applications; global university applications; specialised university applications (Oxbridge/ Medicine/ Veterinary Medicine/ Dentistry/ Law); apprenticeships, degree apprenticeships and careers. This breadth allows us to provide bespoke guidance and coaching towards finding and achieving the very best pathways for each pupil.

When discussing pathways with pupils, we stress the importance of accepting this golden rule: They may not have yet heard of the best pathway for them. Similarly, when talking with parents, we want them to be open to the idea that they may not have yet heard of the best pathway for their son. Most of our UK-based pupils and parents will be aware of a number of UK universities. Most of these will probably be part of the Russell Group, and all are very good in their own way. However, it is important for pupils and parents to be aware that there are around 6000 university institutions in the UK – including many that are outstanding, with very high student satisfaction scores, that are not part of the Russell Group, and thousands more overseas. It is well worth making time to do the research and find out what is out there, even if this means dipping one’s toes into unfamiliar territory and stepping onto roads less travelled.

We want to give all of our pupils time to think long and hard, not just about what they might want to do after school, but also, very importantly, where they might want to do it. For example, if their home address is in Dorset and they want their university to be no more than two hours away from home, it makes no sense to be looking at universities in Scotland. Similarly, if they want to be in a vibrant, multi-cultural city with banging nightclubs, it makes no sense to be applying to study at small university towns. In addition, we want the pupils to think about the geography of their pathway environment and how these factors might really enhance their wellbeing: if they really love surfing, why not apply to coastal institutions which will allow them to enjoy surfing, and be part of a surfing community, throughout the year? With this bespoke tailoring in mind, we very much encourage pupils and families to make time to visit potential destination locations. Choosing where to live/ study/work is an important heart and head decision. It costs a lot of money to study at university/art school etc. so it is well worth putting in the hours to make an informed and deliberated decision. sherborne.org

In the past, conversations regarding pathways often did not take place with pupils until their very last year of school. Now, we want our youngest boys to think about a pathway that excites them from their first year here. This is not to create undue anxiety or pressure, but rather to help the boys find their own self-awareness, self-belief, and place in the world. By helping the boys become more informed about the many potential pathways out there - and giving them time and space to talk through their interests and passions with the Tutor and Housemaster - we can help each and every pupil find a sense of purpose and a pathway which motivates them. Finding this sense of purpose can have a transcendental impact on the boys’ enjoyment of school.

We believe that this individually-centred approach enables our staff team to be responsive to what excites and fires the irresolute clay of our pupils. In addition, this skilled guidance empowers our boys to find out interesting and eclectic routes towards exciting destinations. This level of support makes all the difference with regard to pupils accessing the very best pathways, which then, in turn, enables them to make the very best positive contributions to the world.

At The Table

Michela Chiappa

Broccoli Balls

If you’re struggling to get extra veg or nutrients into your family meals, give these a go. Broccoli and sweet potato are full of lovely vitamins but made into balls the kids love to serve them creatively like popcorn for snacks. Baking them is obviously healthier but we sometimes shallow fry them if we want to treat ourselves.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30–40 minutes

Makes: 12–16

Ingredients

1 medium sweet potato (350g)

1 head of broccoli (350g) a handful of cornflakes (40g)

1 clove of garlic a handful of pistachio nuts (40g)

3–4 handfuls of breadcrumbs olive oil, for greasing

1 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme

1 egg

4 heaped tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (40g) salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas 6.

2 Peel and dice the sweet potato and cut the broccoli into florets.

3 Place in a steamer along with the peeled clove of garlic.

4 Steam the veg for 10–15 minutes, until soft, then leave to one side.

5 Blitz together the cornflakes and pistachio nuts using a blender and pot attachment and put aside into a small bowl.

6 Blitz together the breadcrumbs, broccoli, garlic, thyme, sweet potato, egg and Parmesan.

7 Remove a portion for the baby then season the rest with salt and pepper. Grease a baking tray with a little olive oil.

8 Roll into small balls and coat in the cornflake/ pistachio mix, then place on the prepared tray and drizzle with a little olive oil.

9 Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until golden brown, turning after 15 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

Tips: For a change, substitute the broccoli with 2 handfuls of frozen peas or spinach. Use an ice cream scoop to measure out the balls onto the baking tray. Stick toothpicks into the unseasoned balls to distinguish the baby’s from the others.

@michela.chiappa

TheChiappaSisters thechiappas.com

Baby at the Table: A 3-Step Guide to Weaning the Italian Way (Michael Joseph) £16.99. Sherborne Times reader offer price of £14.99 from Winstone’s Books

Simply Italian: Cooking at Home with the Chiappa Sisters (Michael Joseph) £22 (hardcover). Sherborne Times reader offer price of £20 from Winstone’s Books

Tel: 01963 23219

Fax: 01963 23053

Email: info@fcuffandsons.co.uk www.fcuffandsons.co.uk