Teach Middle East Magazine May-June 2018 Issue 5 Volume 5 | Page 25

Featured School considered while planning the greenhouse. Perhaps the most crucial consideration was the ability to control the temperature at all times, for which an automatic temperature control system was installed. Sale of fresh organic vegetables to the parents and teachers by Secondary Boys- A and the principal Mr. Tajammul A Mirza Vertical gardening, for its quality of taking up less space and creating an effervescent environment, filled with greenery even in the most confined and challenging places, was created to not only influence the students to have a green thumb, but also their parents. Moreover, a remarkable success has been the hydroponics, which is known for being erratic and inauspicious, for continual plant growth in school environments, due to its features of growing plants without soil but water, which is a very sensitive process. Al Sadiq has been very successful with using hydroponics, where to date, over five harvests of various plants grown in the hydroponics have been reaped. The task of planting and harvesting was undertaken by the students ranging from KG1 to 11th grade under the supervision of teachers. The harvested fruits and vegetables were sold to parents and teachers during gatherings such as the parents’ meetings in collaboration with the Commerce Department to allow the students, to also polish their entrepreneurial skills. their gardening to a greenhouse, which is an improvement for the gardening initiative at Al Sadiq. The greenhouse is an opportunity to extend the fruit production and plant growing, without giving precedence to the harsh climate of the UAE. The size, location, material, and climate control, were the four specifications The greenhouse was brought to life with various distinctive plants on the 19th of November 2017. The leaders of the Gardening Club; Lavina Chowdhury, Saamiya Naushad , Huda Alam and Mancy Aimen, were given the responsibility of being the first to learn how to plant the seeds, through the demonstrations provided, and then to extend the knowledge acquired to other students, and in the process, to develop great leadership qualities along with gardening. Through constant care and observation by the students, it was only a matter of a few months before most of the plants were grown. So far there has been countless numbers of harvests, with over six hundred and twenty kilograms of cucumbers, produced by the students of; foundation, Primary and secondary Members of the gardening club at Al Sadiq Islamic English School. Al Sadiq Islamic English School’s diligence towards gardening has not gone unnoticed by the Dubai Municipality, who awarded Al Sadiq Organic Garden with the title of Best innovative approach in gardening, during the Grow Your Food campaign. Additionally, Ms. Greta Ferloni, the manager, at Wellbeing Initiative at KHDA had visited and appreciated the Al Sadiq Garden. A visit to KHDA with the harvest from organic and hydroponic garden, was also well received. The road to gardening does not end here for Al Sadiq, as this year they have taken an inspiring pledge to extend Students and teachers busy sowing seeds in the gardening club. Class Time | | May - Jun 2018 | 23