Case Study - SCC Gardening Club

Sittingbourne Community College (SCC) Gardening Group

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In February 2006 Groundwork completed a project working with pupils from the Sittingbourne Community College, which ran from February 2004, and involved working with a group of young people, aged 13-16, all of whom found conventional classes a challenge.

A partnership, between Sittingbourne Community College, Swale Housing Association, Swale Youth Action and Groundwork, encouraged the pupils to carry out practical tasks such as maintaining gardens in the area.

The young people found themselves excluded from many of their other lessons and the Gardening Group worked to keep them engaged with school whilst at the same time giving them a degree of routine.

Davey Northcott, Assistant Landscape Assistant at Groundwork commented, “The project was a success and most of the young people turned up every week for the classes, which unfortunately is not the case with many of their other lessons. They produce very high quality work and the interaction with the surrounding community is good for bridging the frequent social divides between this age group and older generations.”

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Learning new skills at Wisely

Inspecting wildlife in Wisely pond

Pupils carry out tasks such as lifting, cutting, painting and digging

Pupils display at the Kent Garden Show

SCC Gardening Club

Groundwork Kent & Medway
48 Canterbury Street
Gillingham
Kent ME7 5UN

T	01634 855166
F	01634 855177
E	gkm@groundwork.org.uk