We would like to introduce ourselves: we are Tommy Dixon, Joe Fielding, Grant Hosegood, Liam Taylor, Jack Dean, Lewis Taylor and Chad Kirby. We are part of the Imberhorne gardening team. The gardening lessons help us keep out of trouble because we can’t just go out – we have to “earn” our lessons. We have learnt so much and we go outside no matter what the weather; raining, sunny, icy or snowy. We learn about all types of gardening, from growing plants from seeds, to growing vegetables and fruit. Watching them grow and finally harvesting the crops which we sell to the canteen and staff is rewarding. We have also learnt how to recycle objects to make it more environmentally friendly. This year we have all worked extremely hard to get the allotment garden (the gardens at the front of school and the area by the staff room), looking its best because Mrs Daw entered us in the East Grinstead in-Bloom competition. This is an annual event where lots of villages and towns compete against each other to encourage people to take pride in where they live. For us this involved us designing and making new planters for the front of the school, making sure after months of nurturing the fruit bushes, plants and vegetables that everything was looking its best. The hanging baskets were made by our Year 10 students attending Oathall School. The judging day was looming and we were all extremely anxious because the weather had not been very kind to us. There had been gales and torrential rain battering everything!! As if that wasn’t enough we then had a week of soaring temperatures. We battled on and survived, but more importantly so did the plants, hanging baskets, containers, shrubs and vegetables!!Friday 10th of July was the big day we were all waiting for. We had made leaflets for the judges and provided information about our endangered orchids which grow wild in the front area of Windmill Lane. We went over and over in our heads what Mrs Daw had taught us. We waited for their arrival - it seemed to take forever! Eventually they arrived and we went to greet them. All we had to do now was to remember everything we had learnt and hopefully impress them with our knowledge and of course our gardens. Mrs. Daw was with us but we had to show them that we knew what we had been doing and why. Thankfully all went well and the judges were very impressed. So much so we got a special mention in the judges’ report saying how impressed they were with the Imberhorne project and the students’ knowledge and enthusiasm!!We all, as a group, could never have done it with the one and only Mrs. Daw and I think she deserves a very big thank you.C. Kirby and The gardening teamMrs Daw and Mr Langstone would like to thank the students and how extremely proud of them we were. On their own merit they impressed the judges - a huge well done to them!