School Garden: health & safety quagmire

[Kaiya]

Have you warned them about the dangers of dihydrgoen monoxide?
Facts About Dihydrogen Monoxide

I don't envy you at all TS...

[planetologist]

that's because we had common sense, but it's been all bred out now....

By who, though ...

[jackyspratty]

Oh my I cant believe what Im reading! We were allowed to start without any guidence at all, the main emphasis has been on CRB and child protection training as we are all volunteers. Re group health and safety we have very littlie in place really, a yearly risk assessment and forms re tetnus etc. We also ask the parents to let us know any allergies.
Ive yet to be asked about poisonousness of plants and risk.....so ssshhhh everybody!

I think sometimes its the concern that a parent might sue, and there have certainly been cases at our school. Im not aware of any local authority guidelines in leeds re toxity of plants in schools, and now Im scared to look into it in case we are tied up in red tape (only after declaring we are not allergic to it though!)

I really feel for you TS the work you put in is huge...and the enjoyment the kids get in return is massive. Certainly in our school they dont get an opportunity elsewhere to do anything like this or many of them at home either. What a sorry state of affairs, words fail me

[SarzWix]

I went in our polytunnel on Tuesday to discover that the football team had been using it as a shelter at the weekend All the stuff I had set up the week before for a seed-sowing session - potting trays, seed trays, compost in buckets, gloves, sowing information cards on each thing we were sowing, had all been taken off the benches and dumped in the border so they could sit on the benches Then there were footprints and squashed onions right through the onion bed, and the fruit cage we built last week was collapsing on one side, presumably from being hit by a football. I was hopping mad - the stuff in the tunnel was all set up because we only have 30-40 minutes, and so have to make the most of the time, not be faffing around getting stuff set up! And the idiots shouldn't have even been playing - it was too wet and they've trashed the field, never mind mucking up my lessons

[Two_Sheds]

Have you warned them about the dangers of dihydrgoen monoxide?

I only skim read the first paragraph ~ I don't get it (is it a pee-take?) Is it air, or water or something?

I went in our polytunnel on Tuesday to discover that the football team had been using it as a shelter

Not like.

Can you have a quiet word in the right ears? Or get a key to their shed and dump all their kit in the garden, in the rain.

[rustylady]

Googled and found this Dihydrogen monoxide hoax - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[jackyspratty]

Googled and found this Dihydrogen monoxide hoax - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I might have to show tis to a few ultra HS types just to make a point! ;o

[Two_Sheds]

Yay, I was right! It is water. Good links guys, made me chuckle

[BarleySugar]

We do a lesson on research on the Internet, one activity is to look at various websites and identify which are real and which are fake or scams. Origami boulders, an island hotel for dogs, and the dehydrated dihydrogen monoxide are just a few we use

[Two_Sheds]

Well, my book arrived and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who is worried about kids & poisonous plants (or even adults). (It doesn't cover pets though)

It tells you what is poisonous, how it is bad, but puts the risk into perspective, such as "only a few cases reported".
Sure hellebores are poisonous, but actually who is going to try and eat one? Why would they? And they're no more poisonous than tulips & daffodils.

Surprisingly, things like celery & parsnips are listed as potentially harmful (some people are sensitive to the sap and/or bristly hairs on certain plants.)


Interestingly, many more adults are poisoned than children, eg. they eat a big batch of foxglove leaf thinking its spinach, or something. Kids tend to go for berries, which tend to be bitter and get spat out.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Lets just hope they listen to your common sense, because I sometimes think that, that particular trait has been bred out of the human race.

Good luck Colin

[petal]

Heres a tricky one- how do I protect my year 7s from honey bees? We have hives near to the veg plot and last year one boy with an over protective(trust me- why did it have to be him that got stung) mother got stung on the head. Does wearing a citronella based product repel bees?

[Two_Sheds]

Personally, I wouldn't have children and hives near each other. Bumbles are OK, honeys are much more aggressive.

It's not worth the aggro, esp. as you aren't allowed to take out the sting (you have to phone the parents to do it)

[Aberdeenplotter]

Surprisingly, things like celery & parsnips are listed as potentially harmful (some people are sensitive to the sap and/or bristly hairs on certain plants.)


Interestingly, many many adults are poisoned than children, because they eat a big batch of foxglove leaf thinking its spinach, or something. Kids tend to go for berries, which tend to be bitter and get spat out.

I feel very relieved now, and well-armed against the panickers

Just noticed this. Exhibition vegetable growers know only too well about this problem and cover as much bare skin as possible when harvesting and preparing parsnips. The sap can cause large very painful blisters similar to those caused by giant hog weed another umbelliferous plant.

Parsnip of course are a very slow growing plant and because of that are unlikely to be used in a school garden.

[Two_Sheds]

Parsnip of course are a very slow growing plant and because of that are unlikely to be used in a school garden.

You are like a red rag to a bull AP So now I'm going to grow parsnips in the school beds, even though none of the kids will eat them