Monday, April 20, 2009

Staff Development at ZIGS

As part of our commitment to our agricultural and environmental studies programme every teacher and member of staff at ZIGS will undergo a training programme within their first few weeks at ZIGS to ensure that this aspect of our work is central to our school. We have already established links with the Kasisi Agriculture College, near to Lusaka, and they have promised to train our staff in order to make them au fait with the principles of organic farming, permaculture agriculture and sustainable development. I was privileged to spend a day at the Kasisi Agricultural College and the work they do is awe inspiring. The prospect of working with them is exciting in itself!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Agricultural and Environmental Projects

Organic Farming and eco friendly agricultural projects will be pivotal to our school. Not only will agricultural and environmental studies be part of the curriculum for all students at ZIGS but we will also work with neighbouring schools, villages and communities to ensure that our work has an impact beyond the perimeters of our institution.

All children at ZIGS, from Nursery to Sixth Form will have the opportunity to study agriculture and environmental studies. The will be a core part of our curriculum that will permeate across traditional subject areas. Every class at ZIGS will be assigned a piece of land and challenged to farm. Students will be taught about different methodologies of agriculture in the classroom and have the opportunity to experiment on their own land. The only condition will be that the land is farmed in an organic and eco friendly manner. No fertilisers, GMO seeds or machinery will be permitted. As part of the schools aim to be entirely self sufficient and sustainable students will be challenged to grow, harvest and prepare meals for the whole community on a regular basis.