Gardening Club #14 — From The Ground

Sometimes, there is as much reward in the process of making something than in the finished article, as some of the children discovered at last week’s gardening club. There is perhaps nothing more simple than a humble, hand made fishing net.

It has been a whirlwind of activity since the idea of the allotment was first conceived and the project, quite literally, raised from the ground. Wonderful to see what can be achieved in the space of just a few short months and, what has been more rewarding, are the clear educational benefits that it has brought to the children’s learning. Come rain or shine, many happy memories have been made since the very first gardening club back in January, and today’s activity was no exception.

The biggest success of the school allotment, from the children’s point of view, has to be the pond. It has proved a massive asset, helping to facilitate the children’s learning about life cycles and driving their enthusiasm to engage with the natural world. Over the past few months, they have been captivated by the tadpoles, and other forms of life, in this new wildlife area. It therefore seemed a good idea to indulge them in their passion by giving them the opportunity to make their own fishing nets.

It’s remarkable what can be made from a single piece of willow, cotton and a bit of mesh. It was a very resourceful session where the children learned lots of new skills: some had never picked up a needle and thread before and some had never weaved willow. It was a lesson in how to be mindful. They crafted with their hands and engaged their brains in the wonderful world of making. No one was rushing to get anywhere or do anything; there was no pressure and no time constraints. The children very much enjoyed being in the moment, engaged in the task at hand; a rare thing to be able to do in this digital world.

There were some who were keen to get the thing made so they could get on and enjoy what they love doing best, while others were happy to simply sit in the beautiful sunshine with a giant teddy, sewing contentedly to the sounds of song birds. This little lad sat for over an hour making his net and sewing up the seam. If it sounds idyllic that’s because it was.

As with all these slightly ad hoc ideas, one can never really know if they will actually work. Of course, had time allowed, the sensible thing would have been to make one earlier, but this isn’t Blue Peter and so the success of the activity was pinned on hope rather than any concrete prototype. It was therefore with great relief that the method of construction resulted in fully functioning nets that actually worked.

Not only that, but the pond’s first baby newt was caught in one, which created much excitement among the troops.

The children were also super excited to see the transformation of the tadpoles, many of which were hopping around the perimeter of the pond trying to avoid being caught.

Having been heavily man handled by a small heard of children for the majority of their relatively short lives, it came as no surprise to find that the tiny frogs were extremely docile and friendly, either that or they had simply resigned themselves.

The sense of satisfaction from making a fully functioning object that fulfils its purpose shouldn’t be overlooked: that feeling of achievement is important because it helps bolster a child’s confidence and belief in their own abilities. In the current national curriculum, little prominence is given to subjects that are hard to measure achievement by, and yet ironically, it’s within those subjects where children achieve the most. Perhaps those people pulling the strings of our children’s education should try making their own fishing nets, they might catch themselves by surprise.