Solas Chríost school in Tallaght has been announced as the national winner of the 2023 SuperValu Let’s GROW initiative, which encouraged students to grow their own food.
The initiative was launched in the spring of 2023, and 50,000 pupils across Ireland have since taken part.
The winner was evaluated on “how they made growing fun through imagination and creativity, how they integrated growing into class work, their actual growing efforts, what they learned about nutrition, and their use of and cooking with food, along with an entertainment factor”.
Teacher Alan McDonnell from Solas Chríost said: “From the minute they opened the box, the students were so excited about learning how to grow their own food.
“They loved the opportunity to get their hands into the soil and when they saw food growing as a result of their efforts they were hooked.”
Let’s GROW
2023 marks the beginning of a three-year partnership with SuperValu and Grow It Yourself (GIY), a non-profit organisation to “deliver classroom-based food growing and food literacy education”.
In April, each school taking part in the SuperValu Let’s GROW received all they needed to start growing their own vegetables.
This included packs of seeds, compost discs and pots for growing food, as well as teacher resource packs with curriculum-linked lesson plans and activities.
Founder of GIY (Grow It Yourself) Michael Kelly said: “Every person in this class is a true ambassador of growing your own food.
“Their passion, enthusiasm and joy were palpable throughout the growing season; it’s obvious that they relished every moment of the challenge, which we can see they didn’t find challenging at all.”
SuperValu managing director Ian Allen said: “I want to congratulate the class, and everyone involved at Solas Chríost, on being named this year’s winners. The commitment and enthusiasm they have shown is inspiring and highlights the value of initiatives like this.”