Nature Quest Project
Using the OASIS gardens as a base with its gardening area, mini wood, geometric domed greenhouse room and community orchard this project is aimed at children between 5 and 12 years.
April 2011 - April 2013
Charity information: Oasis Community Church & Centre (Worksop)
The project is helping to give children an understanding and appreciation of the natural world around them. We hvae brought the OASIS Gardens into life after years of neglect. The Oasis Gardens will become a beautiful managed garden with park equipment, trim trail, sensory garden as well as the gardens project areas. We are trying to give children in a built up environment a chance to learn about creation and the way the natural world works.
We will use the Nature Quest project sessions to tackle many teaching and learning opportunities to give them a full appreciation of the natural world around us. Through hands on projects we will teach them how to grow seeds, bulbs, plants, flowers and fruit and vegetables. We will have projects to identify different plants and creatures. Using garden tools we will give the children their own garden space where they can grow what they like. Sessions will be interactive with fun and games.
Our Wonderful World - Aim is to give children an appreciation of the natural world around them.
Activities» We will make learning about nature fun through learning with fun activities, games and outdoor nature activities which will be great fun.
» Activity work in the OASIS Geo dome greenhouse will help children appreciate the way that they can bring natural things to life through planting seeds
Success will be children learning to love the world around them and not take it for granted. Success would see more children joining the Nature Quest club ...
Natural Disaster - Aim is to show children how people can heal or hurt and damage the natural world
Activities» We will help children get an appreciation of the environment and the way that people can influence nature for good or bad through experiments.
» We will find imaginative ways of the children seeing things spring into life and begin to grow. Use games to show how people can damage the nature.
Success will be children beginning to understand how they can make a difference for good or bad in the world..
Garden design - Children design and plan their garden space,
Activities» Get children to look at garden magazines and pictures and make collage boards of different colours and patterns.
» Designing circle garden plots together deciding on flowers, fruit or vegetables and what names and colour combinations go together.
Success will be an exhibition of the children's work schemes plans and pictures which can be shown to the community when the garden plots have grown and developed.
How does your garden grow - Aim to show the diversity of the natural world around us.
Activities» Investigate a piece of earth to see how many plants, bugs, beetles, creatures live there. |recording information gathered.
Success will be children being able to name flora and fauna of the world around them. Identification of species and plant families.
The Natue Quest project will be ongoing, taking children on an adventure through the seasons using the OASIS Gardens as a backdrop and using real life plants to show children how they can grow and develop gardens and grow produce.
We will show success through Garden Days where families of the children get together to enjoy the things the kids have grown and done. We will record the seasons and the development of the project and the gardens spaces to show a year in the life of Nature Quest.
There is always the risk that children may not join the project. We will use many forms of advertising and publicity to get a good turn out.
The weather can make a difference to the project. We have built the geodesic dome greenhouse which can be heated and lit. to prevent weather stopping the project.
The risk of items being used wrongly as weapons. Clear and plain instructions given several times and supervision at all times.
We will report to funders through -
- input of seasonal pictures of the project.
- diary on our website.
- seasonal report by letter or website.
- the journey recorded in jourmals.
- on screen in video, photographs and text evidence.
- Open evening for parents and funders.
Budget - Project Cost: £8,000Loading graph....
Amount Heading Description £500 Seeds Seeds and bulbs £2,500 Salary/costs Project leader/worker costs/pay £1,000 Resources Equipment (pots) etc, £500 Tools Tools. £1,000 Venue Venue contribution 50 x £20 £500 Administration Administration/costs £500 Publicity Publicity in several different forms £500 Course Course resources (20 students)etc £1,000 Extra courses Visits/transport/costs
OASIS Community Centre/OASIS Community Gardens -
2 Longfellow Drive,
The project will be open to children from the immediate estates but also from the wider Worksop area. There are around 350 children in the St Augustine's school on Longfellow Drive near the OASIS Site. Children between 5 and 12 years of age are welcome to join us. There are around 45 - 50,000 people in the Worksop area,
We are best placed to carry out this project because -
- We have created the OASIS Centre and Gardens over the last 3 years.
- We have many years of experience in child care and youth work projects.
- We have gained the funding for the overall OASIS project which we have been working on.
- We are the only community group/charity working on the Kilton estate
Read more about the Charity running this project.
Steve Williams - Project Manager (Currently Volunteer)
Steve has 24 year experience working with children/young people and is Project Manager and Chairman. National AOG Children's Work Director for 10 yrs.
Caroline McGrath (Volunteer - Trustee - Children's Worker)
Caroline is the Children's work co-ordinator for the OASIS Children's project.
Deborah Hodgkins (Children's Worker)
Children's worker /Nursery Nurse
Michael Exley (Children's/Youth Worker)
Michael is an experienced teacher with primary and secondary children and has much experience working with children with special educational needs.