13
My Green School
The children hold on to the trunks of these young trees and swing around them
I: Do you think [the green roof] will grow on its own? F: No. I: What do you think it needs? F: Water, soil, sun, sunlight F: Looking after. M: Space. I: ... You say looking after, what do you mean? F: Like water every day. F: Make sure it has enough sun. F: Instead of like just in a shady place. ... M: You have to change the soil and if you keep on, if you have the same soil it might die. In this extract the children suggest that people have a key role to play in ensuring that the plants on the green roof get everything they need to grow. While the list of key ingredients given by the children are natural, they go on to describe the role that people play in facilitating the right access to these ingredients, such as planting in a sunny spot. The children qualified these views by stating that they had seen people going onto the roof. F: Sometimes when we play we see [the caretaker] go up and she takes the soil bag and when she comes down it’s like half [empty]