THE National School Grounds Week was launched on Monday and Help the Aged kicked off its latest schools community project with a gardening theme to transform the dark, uninspiring corners of playgrounds into a sensory feast of colours, smells, sounds and textures.

Under the project called Looking After Each Other schools are encouraged to rake in gardening experience from the community, especially older people.

Mr Steve Jones, director of communications and marketing at Help the Aged, said: "These resources have been specifically designed to fit with the national curriculum to help lessen the loads of teachers and to effortlessly encompass ICT requirements into lessons.

"Using the new community project, the playground becomes an outdoor classroom. As with all the hands-on citizenship projects, it is a platform where schools and their communities, young and old can work together in making the garden plan a reality."

Details of the project are available on the charity's website <www.helptheaged.org/schools>.

June 17, 2002 15:00