The children decided that "Our Heritage" would be best represented by focusing on Easterhouse. We explored what makes our area unique, researched key historical and cultural landmarks, and made a big collaborative  poster to guide our design.  Our garden represents our Heritage by these key features: 

• Provan Hall House in Easterhouse built in the 1470s, one of the oldest buildings in Glasgow.
• Crannogs, ancient Iron Age dwellings once found in Scottish lochs and Bishop Loch 700BC 
• The 13 farmlands , representing Easterhouse’s agricultural history up until the 1950s.
• A painted backdrop that includes the FARE building (built in 2010), Oakwood Primary School opened 1973 and the canal which was filled in during the early 1970s to make way for the M8 motorway.
• The Phoenix, symbolising Easterhouse’s regeneration and rising from the ashes.

We created bug hotels using recycled tin cans,  a bee water stop, and a rain catcher made from reused plastic bottles.  We also planted pollinator-friendly flowers to attract bees and other insects.  

We are growing peas, green beans, cabbage, lettuce, onions, potatoes, salad greens (inside an old Henry Hoover), and sunflowers. The children planted and cared for everything from seed in the classroom and at the FARE Community Allotment. We chitted the potatoes in the classroom before planting out. 

We used a plastic jar wrapped in string, twigs, and straw to build the crannog house!

We learned about local history, heritage, and how to plan and build a garden. We gained hands-on experience in planting, recycling, teamwork, and caring for living things.

The children’s favourite parts were:

• Painting the Provan Hall House and the planter
• Making the Crannogs
• Planting and watching their vegetables grow from seed

Our biggest challenge was keeping everything watered. We overcame this by organising a watering schedule and learning how important regular care is for plants to thrive.

 Our local community helped in creating our garden including, the FARE Community Allotment, Susan from FARE supported us weekly with the garden development, Glasgow Kelvin College students built Provan Hall House and the large planter, The Jaggy Nettle's Men's club put the planter structure together, and Johnstones Decorating Centre donated paint.

The garden will stay on our school grounds and continue to be used for growing food, supporting wildlife, and celebrating our heritage all year round.  We are incredibly proud of how our garden tells the story of Easterhouse’s history and transformation.