Tick off Bronze, Silver and Gold for... Selling your school-grown produce

24 May 2011 – Do you sell the produce you grow to parents and the wider community? Holding a summer fete or farmers’ market is a fantastic opportunity for the children to reap the fruits of their labour.

Criteria
• Bronze: We hold an annual event on a food theme for our pupils, parents and the wider community.
• Silver: We hold events to involve parents and/or the wider community in growing and cooking activities.
• Gold: Our parents can buy or collect organic and/or local produce at our school, or we direct them to alternative local outlets.

Resources 

Use these poster and flyer templates to promote community events that you are organising in your school.

Case studies

Pupils at Abbey Road Primary School in Nottingham run a gardening stall on Friday afternoons, selling school-grown produce and plants to the children and their families. Ofsted inspectors have said the efforts of staff and pupils to involve the local community are outstanding. Read the case study.

Great Missenden Primary School in Buckinghamshire organises termly farmers’ markets, which are proving to be a roaring success. Each year group is given the opportunity to lead on the market and the Christmas market raised over £600! Read the case study.

Competition and awards

There’s still time to enter for the Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) awards, which recognise schools that are providing valuable and positive learning experiences beyond the classroom. To apply, simply fill in the online application form and state in no more that 500 words how your pupils are benefiting from learning outside the classroom. The deadline for applications is Friday 27 May.

Film Education is giving schools the chance to win £1000 with their Take Action! competition. To enter, schools are asked to devise a publicity campaign around food production, healthy eating or growing, cooking and serving organic produce in school meals. The campaign could be in the form of a poster, letter and video. For more details visit the Film Education website. The deadline for submissions is Friday 17 June.