Greenside Primary School
London, United Kingdom
How iPad brings farm‑to‑table to the inner city.
Greenside Primary School is a state-run school serving an economically and culturally diverse community in London, with many of its 200+ students speaking English as a second language. Greenside is committed to providing equitable access to learning, so every student aged 4–11 and every teacher receives an iPad.
The school’s leaders and teachers are also committed to educating city kids about their impact on the natural world around them, including ways to reduce waste, make sustainable choices and eat more healthily. Deputy Head Georgina Webber is passionate about driving climate awareness and has led the creation of a vibrant green space and programmes to help reduce Greenside’s own carbon footprint.
Supported by an onsite micro-bakery and a patch of garden, they’ve developed a sustainability programme that runs alongside their STEAM curriculum. On its small school grounds, students learn to grow their own food in a farm-to-table experience — and demonstrate their learning in new ways on iPad.
In the kitchen, students use Notes to follow recipes, iMovie to create how-to videos and Keynote to make nutrition labels. In the garden, to gain understanding of how to grow nutritionally rich produce, students test soil samples and record findings in Numbers. They even FaceTime with farmers across the UK to learn how they grow food in a sustainable way at scale.
“If we give students an understanding of how the planet is being affected, the voice to speak about it and the confidence to act, then we will be creating positive custodians for the future.”
iPad and native apps have changed how students learn and express themselves in ways that work best for them. And teachers are inspired to get creative with the Apple Education Community thanks to meaningful resources for lesson planning that help engage students and save time.
Executive Headteacher Karen Bastick-Styles says, “iPad is so versatile, it allows students to approach learning creatively and to develop their own understanding of sustainability, however that message is being taught.”
At Greenside Primary School, the biggest lesson they’ve learnt is that the size of the school shouldn’t limit big ideas.
