Chester academic and award-winning mint expert grows schools' biodiversity initiative

Dr Si Poole, Associate Professor of Cultural Education, has developed the Intmintmint Biodiversity Challenge in partnership with primary schools in Cheshire and beyond to explore practical, engaging ways of enhancing the natural environment by planting and caring for varieties of Mentha (mint), and designing new gardens. The project also aims to connect pupils to growing for wellbeing - using planting, scent and seasonal change to spark curiosity, mindfulness, and everyday connection with nature.

The initiative focuses on mint with Si having cultivated nearly 200 varieties at his Mintopia plant nursery, recognised as a National Plant Collection® by Plant Heritage. National Plant Collections are registered and documented collections of a group of plants, celebrated internationally as contributing to conservation. 

The Intmintmint Biodiversity Challenge was featured as part of the Mintopia exhibit within the Plant Heritage zone at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Badminton Flower Show this summer. The exhibit was awarded a RHS Silver-Gilt medal, repeating Si’s success in winning a RHS Silver-Gilt accolade for another educational Mintopia exhibit last year at RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival.

The Intmintmint project, currently supporting 23 schools, sees Si work closely with a different school each year, with the project currently supporting about £15,000 of development per school.

In previous years, he has worked with The Oaks Community Primary School in Ellesmere Port and Malpas Alport Endowed Primary School, and this year he will work with Cherry Grove Primary School in Chester. Si has also expanded the initiative into schools in Wales, delivering the programme bilingually in English and Welsh.

Alongside the schools and exhibition work, Si is also undertaking mint trials as an expert specialist at RHS Bridgewater, helping to explore and assess mint varieties and their potential in gardens.

Si said: “It’s exciting to see what began as an interest in gardening and mint varieties become what it is today and to be able to share what I’ve learned and created with schools, and through exhibitions and trials.

“Our work with schools and communities is rooted in a shared commitment to biodiversity, wellbeing, and creative education. From a single potted mint to a fully co-designed sensory garden, we use mentha as a starting point for further learning and connection.

“Mintopian schools began with a question: what happens when you hand a child a pot of mint and invite them to care for it? The answer - it turns out - is a growing network of schools, educators, researchers, and communities across the UK who are rethinking how we learn with plants, and it continues to branch out in new directions every season.”

David Wearing, Headteacher at The Oaks Community Primary School said: “We’ve really valued being part of the Intmintmint Biodiversity Challenge and the way Si’s work has encouraged our children to think differently about nature, biodiversity and the spaces around them. At The Oaks, we want children to feel that they can make a genuine difference to their environment through simple, practical actions.

“One of the lovely outcomes has been our growing collection of different varieties of mint, which the children help to care for and propagate. Rather than simply growing plants, they are learning how to take cuttings, create new plants and then share them with others or take them home, extending that connection with nature beyond the school gates.

“The project also complements the development of our Calm Hub and our wider work around outdoor learning and wellbeing. We’re increasingly using planting, nature and quieter outdoor spaces to give children opportunities to slow down, notice what is around them and feel connected to their environment. What we particularly like about the project is that biodiversity becomes something children actively participate in rather than something they simply learn about in a classroom.”

Nic Wetton, Headteacher at Malpas Alport Endowed Primary School added: “Working with Si allowed our pupils to fully embrace the challenge of biodiversity within our school grounds and areas of concrete became a hive of plant and insect life.”

Si is interested to hear from any other schools who might like to get involved in a future Biodiversity Challenge project. To contact Si, please email: intmintmint@gmail.com 

Si is an Associate Professor in the School of Education in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Chester.

Images - from top:

• Dr Si Poole, Associate Professor of Cultural Education, with a Royal Horticultural Society Silver-Gilt award. Credit - Plant Heritage.
• Planting different varieties of mint at The Oaks Community Primary School in Ellesmere Port. Credit - The Oaks Community Primary School.
• The Calm Hub and growing varieties of mint at The Oaks Community Primary School. Credit - The Oaks Community Primary School.