2014 Prizes
1st prize: The winning school will win a trip the Bloom gardening festival, along with €500 worth of gardening equipment and one years mentorship from a GIY gardener. The winning class will have their grand prize presented by cook and food writer Donal Skehan. To top it all off, we’ll take your class to Dublin Zoo for a tour and some tasty lunch.
2nd prize: €400 of gardening equipment/plants and mentoring from the GIY team.
3rd prize : €300 of gardening equipment/plants and mentoring from the GIY team.
Benefits of Food Growing in School
There is evidence* that food growing in schools:
• Encourages and facilitates learning, particularly science learning.
• Builds skills, including life, enterprise and employment- related, and horticultural skills.
• Improves awareness and understanding of the natural environment and its importance to us.
• Promotes health and well-being, particularly in relation to diet and nutrition.
• Supports school improvement and development.
• Strengthens communities and school-community interaction.
* source: Food Growing in Schools Taskforce
Check out the 'planting rap' from Miss Fordes class at GNS Kilnamanagh -
Downloads
Innocent and GIY Sow & Grow Schools Campaign
With our partner’s innocent, we are aiming to get 20,000 primary school children started on their GIY journey in 2014. We want to try and get kids growing in schools and at home, so they can understand where food comes from and enjoy the taste of home-grown food.
To do that, we send out kits to every class who register. Each box is packed with everything a teacher needs to get the kids growing, including cups, soil, seeds and instructions.
Take part
With the support of innocent, we have allocated kits to schools across the country, but these are now all gone. You can still sign up to take part in the project and every class who upload pictures or stories to the website will get a certificate. Also, you can still be in with a chance to win the prizes, so register now to take part
REMINDER: All kits are now gone, but you can still take part.
## All kits are now gone ##
Sow & Grow 2013
A huge thank you to all the schools that got involved, we are very impressed by the amazing growing and creativity.
The Winners were chosen based on some important criteria; making growing fun, imagination and creativity, integrating growing into class work, cooking with the produce and of course, success in growing.
Donal Skehan says: "I'm really delighted to be part of the innocent and GIY Sow & Grow schools pledge. We want as many primary schools in Ireland to take part and get kids growing. It's so important for kids to know where their food comes from and there is a real sense of achievement in growing your own food and using it to create delicious recipes. So roll up the sleeves and let's get planting"
Michael Kelly says: "We want to create the next generation of budding GIYers and this campaign is designed to make seed sowing fun and accessible to all. We're also conscious that we need to help busy teachers and make it easy for them to incorporate GIYing in to the curriculum. At the end of the Innocent and GIY Sow & Grow campaign we hope to have 15,000 new GIYers out there, experiencing all the benefits of home-grown food!"
2013 Winners...
1st Prize
Miss Forde’s 1st Class in St. Kevin’s GNS, Kilnamanagh
The girls of 1st class got to do a radio interview with Colm Flynn on RTÉ Radioactive show. They did lots of interesting things in the project, including making a pizza with the Basil they grew.
The Class went to Bloom on Friday 31st May to be presented with their trophy from the lovely Donal Skehan. Congratulations.
2nd Prize
Headford Girls National School in Galway. 
Junior & senior infants and 4th, 5th and 6th classes
3rd Prize
1st class Scoil Mhuire, Lucan, Dublin.
The 2012 School Winners
St Thomas Senior National School, Tallaght. Dublin
The runner up schools in the innocent and GIY Sow & Grow schools pledge were Cloghan’s Hill NS, Tuam and Scoil Ui Fhiaich, Kildare.
