Ok, to be completely honest, I'm a bloke. Teaching with flowers is not something I have ever really given serious consideration to. Like most teachers, I've stuffed some daffodils in a milk bottle and got the kids to draw them but that's about the extent of my floral expertise. Therefore I expected that reading -˜Teaching with Flowers' would be a challenge. 

I needn't have worried. Mick Waters, as always, writes a compelling introduction and then we're into Julie's introduction, the first line of which made me feel guilty of my stereotypical blokeness as the word -˜learning' is in the first sentence. I'm a passionate teacher so I should have seen flowers, as Julie says, as -˜another way to help children learn'. Combining her significant teaching experience and her abilities as a florist, Julie shares her experiences of working with children and flowers, with some amazing results. The underlying themes of hands-on, care, pride and quality apply to many other curriculum areas so why not teach with flowers? In case you need any more convincing there are lists of vocab you can cover as well as pages of curriculum areas - yes, -˜pages'.

Ok, so you're convinced but you don't know your buttercups from your eryngiums? Me neither. Don't worry petal, Julie is here to help. There's a full chapter on flowers, how to care for them, elements of design and all sorts of technical vocab; another chapter on seasonal flowers and what's generally available when, cleverly organised by colour, flower name and season and much more background information.

The rest of the majority of the book is split into two main sections; one is step-by-step instructions, clearly written and supported by great photos, to create specific flower arrangements. These aren't the ones you'll see in the local church but practical activities for children to tackle in school. The other section is called -˜Let's learn about...' and provides a number of lessons that tackle a variety of concepts and knowledge from a range of subjects and shows how using flowers can enhance this learning.

The book ends with more useful tips on extending the use of flowers, or the -˜blooming curriculum', across the school, with a special mention for Julie's previous passion of transition. Finally there's -˜techniques' so you can look like an expert in front of your learners and links to useful resources. Even the index is colour coded to make the busy teacher's life easier.

There is no doubt that this book will provide you with everything you will ever need to enhance children's learning through the use of flowers. Imagine the smell, the colours and the excitement of a classroom with children enhancing learning through flowers. What a great experience that would be - and then you could display the results in the staffroom and cheer the teachers up too! Well done Julie for creating a book that adds an unexpected level of rich educational experience in an easily accessible form that the busy teacher, whether a trained florist or not, can readily use to bring learning alive.



I will definitely blooming go out and buy this book. No stigma attached!

There is nothing quite like connecting with nature, but this can be quite a puzzle in many schools which appear to be surrounded by nothing but a man-made sprawl. I mean, how is it possible to connect with nature when your school is in the middle of a built-up inner city? How is it possible to give pupils real-life experiences of nature when the country seems so, so far away?

BloomingBook1Help is at hand, and suddenly a lot more accessible thanks to the book “Teaching with Flowers for a Blooming Curriculum” written by Julie Warburton, who shows that, with a little thought and planning, children can easily get engaged with nature by using the flowers and plants all around us, to help in mix of subjects across the primary or secondary school curriculum. Crammed with practical ideas and inspiration, the book provides step-by-step instructions, as well as illustrative guides (photos by Jane Hewitt) to support teachers and assistants to produce some creative, imaginative and stunning pieces of work.

Why flowers? Julie writes, “Teachers find that children's understanding of quite complex knowledge becomes more clearer when they take part in practical workshops. Teachers also tell me that they are impressed with the way children work in teams and that poor behaviour is rarely an issue”.

This is quite a unique book. It could be a fantastic guide for teachers: wishing to create an interesting gardening club; wishing to bring nature into their classroom; or for those wishing to take creativity to a new level. The book covers links with ICT, Maths, English, Science, Art, History, Music, or Geography.

See original review here: http://ukedchat.com/2014/10/30/book-review-teaching-with-flowers-for-a-blooming-curriculum-by-bloomingcurric/

This gloriously illustrated and clearly written book will do much to feed the souls of those many teachers who, after decades of almost exclusive emphasis on the functional and the measurable, yearn for fresh perspectives.

As an enthusiastic botanist, I really hope that it will help to raise the profile of the environmental, scientific and cultural value of plants, and sowing the seeds of interest in the plant kingdom at an early age is a vital first step.

Stunningly illustrated, this book combines the intricate discipline of floristry with the wonder and opportunity of the classroom. The multi-sensory world of flowers is used as a living textbook to inspire and motivate children right across the curriculum.

Helpful schemes of work give accurate curriculum links as well as colour charts, for the less floral-literate, detailing what is available and at what time of year. The balance between creating something that is a vehicle for teaching and learning and creating something that is beautiful for the soul is intrinsic to this book.

Clever, low cost ideas are mixed with more daring creations. Simple achievable designs mean that everyone will be able to make something to take home and be proud of - whether they are learning about the symbolism of flowers in history, or understanding the relationship between scale and angles in creating something with harmony and form.

The book is littered with clear practical guidance alongside targeted learning objectives whilst maintaining a sense of joy and beauty throughout.

It's a really lovely book!