Pupils at Cawston Church of England Primary Academy are celebrating after taking home gold in the competition. They are also winners of the BBC Radio Norfolk showstopper and People’s Choice award.
The Windrush Garden was based on the literary theme ‘Coming to England’ by Floella Benjamin, a book studied by pupils across both KS1 and KS2.
In an exciting moment for the school community, Baroness Floella Benjamin sent a letter and video message after staff and children wrote to tell her how her story had inspired the garden project. Her message was shared in assembly, much to the children’s delight.
Susie Black runs the Gardening Club at Cawston Primary as a parent volunteer and coordinated the school’s garden entry for the Norfolk Show. A qualified garden designer, textile graduate, and lifelong creative, she is passionate about helping schools transform their outdoor spaces into vibrant, biodiverse, and inspiring environments and working with children and adults to connect with nature.
Susie says; “We are incredibly proud of the creativity, hard work and imagination that Cawston pupils poured into our stunning entry for the Royal Norfolk Show’s School Garden competition. We were thrilled to be awarded a Gold by the judges and the wonderful feedback we’ve received has been so encouraging and deeply rewarding. Over the past six weeks, every element of the garden has been designed and created by the children themselves (with a little help from parents). It has truly been a whole-school effort.”
Susie continues; “We hope our garden encourages people to reflect on the Windrush Generation and the courage it took to travel thousands of miles to a new and unfamiliar country; often without knowing a single person here. Our aim was to create a space that felt positive, uplifting and celebratory – a garden that honours their resilience and contributions while inspiring people today to embrace inclusion and diversity in our shared culture.”
The garden journey began with a school-wide design competition with six winning entries, which were then combined into a final garden plan. Weekly craft sessions followed, with each class contributing a different component. Meanwhile, Garden Leaders — Reggie, Georgie, Hugo, Hattie, Lilly, and Lola — planted seeds and plug plants, tended them carefully, and even carried out a ‘Chelsea chop’ to extend the flowering period.
Lola, a pupil and garden leader was at the Royal Norfolk Show to see the impact the garden made. Lola says; “I liked seeing how everyone reacted to the garden and felt really proud we won all our awards.”
The Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher visited the garden village and the windrush garden in his role as President of the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association.
It was incredibly hot at the Royal Norfolk Show, and the Garden Leaders showed incredible resilience according to Susie; “On the opening day, they spoke to the judges with confidence, warmth, and impeccable manners. They represented our school beautifully and have been enthusiastic, engaged, and proud throughout the entire process. Working with them has been a joy.“
Congratulations to all the garden leaders and Cawston Primary Academy school. You can read all about the Windrush Garden journey below.