The Classroom was officially opened by Tony Woods, Director of Garden Club London. Tony is a renowned figure in the gardening world and achieved great success as a Gold Medal Winner at last year's prestigious Chelsea Flower Show with his stunning Garden Sanctuary design.

The Horticulture Classroom stands as the centre point of Turner Schools’ drive to promote environmental awareness among students and the wider Folkestone community. Students will be taught about the vital role plants play in ecosystems, grasp the significance of growing local and seasonal produce in combating climate change, and gain insights into the journey of food from farm to table.

School leaders at Folkestone Academy plan to use this facility for Year 10 and 11 pupils as part of their alternative education provision, while Key Stage 3 students will have one dedicated horticultural lesson a week.

Lessons will be taught in mixed ability groups with numerous practical sessions where students will have access to a purpose-built horticulture area including an outdoor classroom, polytunnel, and a number of raised beds.

The school has employed an experienced horticulturalist as lead teacher, as well as another teacher to support. There are plans in place to create a training centre for wider Turner Schools staff.

Turner Schools are also planning to organise a series of talks and workshops led by industry specialists to promote the benefits of the facility, as well as acting as a hugely valuable community space.

The Horticulture Classroom, raised beds and polytunnel was made possible by the generous £160,000 grant from Sir Roger De Haan, Chair of Friends of Folkestone Academy. 

Steve Shaw, Principal at Turner Schools, said:

“We believe in nurturing a profound appreciation for the natural world among our students. The Horticulture Classroom shows our commitment to providing hands-on learning experiences that not only empower our students with skills but also inspire a lifelong love for nature. We want to use this classroom to promote environmental issues and increase our students’ understanding of the challenges ahead, as well as highlighting careers and progression opportunities in the horticultural and environmental science industries.”

Seamus Murphy, Chief Executive at Turner Schools, said:

"We are immensely grateful to Sir Roger De Haan for his unwavering support. His generous donation has allowed us to create a space that will not only enhance the learning experience of our students but also serve as a valuable community asset. We truly believe that this project will prove pivotal in our bid to establish Turner Schools as a local, and in time national, beacon of excellence for environmental science and horticulture teaching.”

The donated plants were planted in front of the recently completed Horticulture building. They included a variety of shrubs, succulents, herbs and lavender, all of which are hardy plants and work well in dry environments and need little watering.

The school received these plants after making contact with Tony Woods, Director of Garden Club London, when designing its Derek Jarman inspired Community Garden. Tony was a Gold Medal Winner at last year’s Chelsea Flower Show with his Garden Sanctuary design. The donated flowers come from the Hamptons Mediterranean Garden at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show which won a Silver Gilt medal. 

When the school received the flowers, it was the Year 8 Horticulture students, under the watchful eye of Horticulture Teacher Alexandra Peacock, who had the job of planting them all and ensuring they were best placed to continue growing. Alexandra and the Horticulture students will now be responsible for watering the plants and looking after them.

David Bowles, Director of Finance and Operations at Turner Schools, said::

“Having flowers from the world famous Chelsea Flower Show to massively enhance the landscaping around the building is the icing on the cake for the pupils, staff, and the local community. It’s really important to all the staff here that students understand the natural world around them and develop a love of the outdoors, so we would like to offer our heartfelt thanks to Tony and the team at the Chelsea Flower Show for their generosity.”

Tony Woods said:

“I am delighted to be working with Folkestone Academy and the Horticulture Classroom to re-use the plants from the Hamptons Mediterranean garden at Chelsea Flower Show. Horticultural education is essential to meet many of the opportunities for young people to excel in green careers and inspire a new generation of gardeners. When established, this drought tolerant planting scheme will demonstrate how we can plant for a changing climate as well as providing plants for students to use for propagation, pruning and plant identification in horticultural lessons.”

Alexandra Peacock, Horticulture Teacher at Folkestone Academy, said: 

“We were all delighted to receive this incredibly generous donation of plants and flowers to help brighten up the school site. The students loved taking the time to plan out where each plant would go and deciding how they would best complement each other, and I know they are excited to watch these grow over time. It’s lovely to see how enthusiastic they all were for this project and are already looking forward to more planting in the future.”

The initial design of the project came from Chloe Diwell, Art Teacher at Folkestone Academy, who was tasked by Seamus Murphy Turner Schools CEO to use her talents to create a whole new space.

Her brief was to design a garden design which provided a calm area where staff can eat their lunch, parents at the primary school next door could wait to collect their children, and where school pupils can sit calmly in the morning and collect their thoughts ahead of the school day. The space is designed to replicate themes found throughout Kent’s South East Coast. 

The final creative design for the space was inspired by artist, filmmaker, and gardener Derek Jarman. The garden space evolved throughout the project to include a replica shed of his former home ‘Prospect Cottage’ which is located in Dungeness and following a visit from Tony Woods, local horticulturist, a rowing boat was added with the aim to plant with coastal plants.

Chloe Diwell, Art Teacher at Folkestone Academy, said:

“This has been a fantastic project to oversee and to see come together. Taking such an unloved space and turning it into a calm and soothing garden has been incredibly fulfilling, and it will be wonderful to see the garden grow as we bring more flowers into it. I am looking forward to seeing it used by our entire school community as a tranquil, relaxing, spot.” 

To coincide with the structure changes, the Trust commissioned local artist, Nicole Cowan,  to work with Folkestone Academy Creative Scholars to create a mural design and then painted it herself.

Nicole Cowan said: 

“I worked with the creative scholars at Folkestone Academy to transform the walls of the outside area. This started by thinking about what makes us feel calm and relaxed; including being in and amongst the nature around us. Being located by the seaside, we ventured outside to gather different plants and objects which were then brought to the class to draw.”

“Experimenting with different materials and techniques, and looking at artists such as Matisse, the children created their own artworks of nature which were then incorporated into the final mural design.”

The project would not be completed without ensuring authentic plants were included in the project. The trust worked with Tony Woods, a Chelsea Flower Show Gold medal winning garden designer and horticulturist who lives locally, who volunteered to help out here. He worked with Academy Horticulture pupils to choose and plant suitable plants for the area.

Tony Woods said: 

“The academy has re-imagined vocational learning with a subject that teaches us to nurture food and the environment whilst enhancing our surroundings. Horticulture boosts our mental and physical health too as well as providing some really cool career opportunities. I can’t wait to pass on some of my skills and knowledge to the students”