Our garden design has two sides – the “indoor” side and the “outdoor” side, separated by a recycled cast iron window embedded in an old pallet. At its simplest level, it represents a kitchen window looking out onto a cottage garden, and highlights the fact that anyone can enjoy growing plants – both edible and ornamental.  Some of the elements in the garden also have a deeper meaning and pay homage to some important aspects of our history and heritage. 

Our school, St Matthew’s Academy, is a community of faith and learning and this is something of our heritage that we felt was hugely important to represent in our pocket garden. We used the centrepiece of the garden, the old cast iron window, to bring this element to life by using paint pens to give it a stained glass effect, evocative of a traditional church building.

We hung a spider plant with a macramé hanger, crafted on a rainy lunchtime using jute (and a helpful YouTube tutorial!). The wattle fence was another heritage handcrafting skill that we attempted for the first time.

As the build began to look more like a cottage, we felt it needed a name. We agreed on “Salt Cot Cottage” as it links with the industrial heritage of Saltcoats, where our school is situated. It is named after the cottages or huts on the seafront where, long ago, people would boil sea water to make salt. The number 25 is included to wish a very happy silver anniversary to Keep Scotland Beautiful.

The main driving force behind our pocket garden entry has been our lovely gardening club pupils, who meet once a week at lunchtime. We enjoy planting, crafting and propagating and are never short of activities to keep us busy (but always short of time!). Thankfully, pupils from a mixture of year groups have used some of their outdoor learning time to get involved in the project and provide a helping hand.

Pupils have showcased the jade plants that they have lovingly grown from scratch through leaf propagation. Originally we were going to make them look like cupcakes, but instead decided they just looked too cute sitting on the “spice rack” we added across the window.

S2 pupil, Hannah, came up with the design for the window and, after careful thought, took inspiration from our school badge and motto - “Lux Mundi” (light of the world).  Alongside the candle, Hannah also painted some colourful florals, creating the connection between our gospel values and our responsibility to look after the environment.

The wattle fence was another heritage handcrafting skill that we attempted for the first time.  Getting the stakes into the ground really tested our resilience, as it was the first part of the garden we embarked upon and our enthusiasm soon wavered as we kept hitting rocks! We tried again another day, and are so glad to have persevered with this, as once we got going, the weaving was good fun and very satisfying work

The old kitchen sink was rescued from scrap and donated by a teacher who was having a new kitchen fitted. It serves as a miniature pond. We researched oxygenating plants and added in an Elodea Densa to keep the water healthy and habitable for visiting insects. We also added some logs to help any visitors get in and out.

The chives donated by Mrs McClumpha have been a huge hit with pollinators. We had intended to put calendula here, but had little success with growing our own (we need to get a better watering system in place for plants in the greenhouse!) but we will keep trying.

Other donations of lemon balm, busy lizzies, cape daisies and pansies helped us to add lots of colour to the space and fill up the gaps in the crates. It was a delight to see pupils excitedly planting away and seeing the garden really come to life. The other plants we have grown on our own (rocket, lettuce, beans, nasturtiums and radishes) are getting there, but not as mature as we would have liked.

We are hugely thankful to Mr Wright from the tech department for his expertise in safely securing the different elements of the garden together and making sure the very heavy window was secure and supported.

The garden is situated in our enclosed allotment area which is right at the front entrance of the school. We chose this spot as it is sheltered and protected from the worst of the weather. We made sure that both sides of the garden were visible from the pavement.  It is amazing how many people – parents, pupils, staff, exam invigilators – have stopped to chat to pupils at work and offered help with plant donations and watering.

It has been difficult to juggle the building, crafting and planting – especially with short frames of time in which to work, and lots of other projects going on - such is high school life! We are nonetheless very proud of what we have achieved and the hard work and thought that has gone into this little pocket of joy that we can continue to enjoy as a school community.