In the 2018 round the Environmental Trust received and assessed 199 proposals. On the recommendation of an independent Technical Review Committee, the Trust approved funding for 86 projects, a total of $301,000.
Eco Schools 2018 grants awarded and project summaries
$3500 has been allocated to each successful Eco Schools project across New South Wales in 2018.
Albion Park High School
Bees, pollination and biodiversity
Our project aims to introduce 2 bee hive colonies into our school agricultural plot. This will in turn create the opportunity to expand the biodiversity of our agricultural and permaculture gardens. We hope to establish a garden specifically designed to support the bees and ensure they thrive and in turn improve the pollination rates in our other gardens. Our students will then harvest fruit and vegetables which will be used to feed our school community. The end goal being the creation of a very rich, biodiverse environment where our students can explore and learn about the role of nature in our lives through a hands-on, engaging approach.
Albury Public School
Powering the Pollinators
Albury Public School has an under-utilised space near the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Project (SAKG) that the school, including the Out of School Hours Care (OOSH), would like to transform into an inviting Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) learning area. The focus of the project is inquiry-based learning around the food cycle and the role of pollinators. We propose planting the under-utilised space with pollinator attracting food sources and building seating for children to observe and document the activity of the pollinators.
Argenton Public School
Hands-on Indigenous Garden
Our aim is to establish a small garden of sensory plants including bush tucker, where curriculum-driven learning can be integrated with real world projects. The purpose of the garden would be to provide hands-on learning for our students, to endorse respect for, and ownership of, the local environment, and to promote Indigenous community engagement. This project is significant for several reasons. Though we have an abundance of space, we are unable to cultivate the existing gardens due to soil pollution. We are also a small school with a limited teaching staff which - though passionate - lack the skills to get the project up and running without assistance.
Avalon Public School
Be WaxWise
Our project is designed to highlight to our students that the way they pack their lunch every day has huge implications on our immediate environment and our global environment. By providing our students with the opportunity to make their own environmentally friendly bees wax lunch wraps we will instil a sense of pride and responsibility within our students, as they learn about waste, recycling, single use plastics and the global impact they can have by creating reusable lunch wraps. We are confident that our students will embrace the project and will proudly bring their lunch to school each day in their custom-made lunch wraps.
Bankstown South Infants School
Frog Retreat and Aboriginal Yarning Circle
We have an Early Intervention Preschool which caters for young children with autism. We provide a lot of sensory activities for the children. We need to provide activities where they can touch, feel and explore their environment. We also provide experiences for children that have gross motor needs and provide extra equipment for them to move around and develop their muscles and co-ordination skills.
Banora Point High School
Our Special Garden: Planting the seeds of sustainability
There are three support unit classes, two Multi-Categorical (MC) and one Intellectually Moderate/Intellectually Severe (IO/IS) class. Students have a special placement in the support unit and all students are currently enrolled in Life Skill courses for all subjects. Some special education students are integrated into mainstream classes as appropriate to their Individualised Education Programs. Many students participate in a range of authentic learning opportunities and the curriculum is adjusted to integrate programming outside of classroom including, Community Access Programs, Supported Work Experience, Garden and Cooking. This project will be implemented by the 5 teachers and 3 SLSO's (School Learning Support Officers).
Banora Point Public School
How does our garden grow?
Students, teachers, community members and local Aboriginal educators will work together to establish vegetable and bush tucker gardens within our school. The gardens will be created to engage, promote and educate students on the importance of good nutrition, local Indigenous culture and environment sustainability. Students will be involved in the design, planting, harvesting and ongoing care of the gardens. Organic recycling systems and worm farms will be incorporated into the project to reduce organic waste and demonstrate the environmental benefits of sustainable, edible gardens. This project will enhance the school environment by providing students with opportunities to develop their understanding of living things, local Aboriginal culture and sustainable practices.
Biala Special School
Biala Therapeutic Garden
Biala wishes to provide a space that is inclusive and can cater for the varying needs and interests of the students in our care. As many of our students have sensory processing issues and difficulty managing their emotions, a garden would provide a space to retreat from the sensory overload of a classroom. The garden would encourage maximum interaction with nature to stimulate the senses and learn about the natural world. They would learn about the needs of living things and how we can use the natural environment for emotional and physical health. They would also investigate environmental sustainability.
Birchgrove Public School
A Kitchen Garden in a Concrete Jungle
We are planning to create a high-yield and self-sustaining kitchen garden area in our mostly concrete school grounds. Using a myriad of techniques, we want to learn/experiment with plant types and growth rates, beauty in design with best practice results (e.g. succession planting, growing vertical climbers, worm farming, planting planning for each season, sowing, toiling, watering, harvesting) and using produce for our daily Crunch and Sip program. We also aim to sell plants, produce and garden creations at our annual Mother's Day Fete to showcase the benefits of our 'potager' garden to the community, as well as supporting our school canteen with produce when possible.
Bomaderry High School
Sustainable Living Project
Our school caters for students with cognitive and physical disabilities and students on the autism spectrum and students with emotional disturbances and conduct disorders. The school has a number of students who are integrated into mainstream classes and five discrete classes catering to specific disabilities and health issues. The students from the specialist classes are able to integrate into mainstream electives where appropriate. Some students return to a mainstream setting after a period of support. The students can access the full range of curriculum areas at the level of their ability. The mainstream curriculum is adjusted and modified, or they can access Life Skills programs in each Key Learning Area. The support unit is particularly interested in offering project-based programs to access the curriculum to increase the accessibility, authenticity and meaning in the students learning.
Bourke High School
Bourke High School Community Permaculture Garden
Our goal is to create a garden that will continue to strengthen the relationship between Bourke High School and the community. The garden will help meet a need in the community by providing fresh produce to those who need support. Bourke High School's Permaculture Community Garden will provide an engaging and interactive area for a variety of learning opportunities across a number of key learning areas. Our garden will address the 12 principles of permaculture to help the Bourke community work towards a more self-sufficient and sustainable future while decreasing our ecological foot print on the earth.
Bundanoon Public School
Nature Trail Connections
We are redesigning our school grounds with multiple outdoor learning areas focusing on sustainability and conservation, Aboriginal culture and connection to place, with student centred experiential learning. We plan to create a Sensory Garden Nature Trail experience committed to citizen-science within schools by promoting growth and sustainability with future landholders. The project allows for dissemination of up-to-date sustainable activities and concepts that students can learn and reproduce at home and in the general community. These include bush regeneration, wetland creation, habitat restoration, weed and pest control, knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal culture, sustainable land management practices, monitoring and evaluation skills.
Campsie Public School
From Garden to Classroom, Canteen and Community
Campsie Public School is a crowded urban school on a small site with limited access to green space. From Garden to Classroom, Canteen and Community is a project which aims to expand and develop a small pre-existing vegetable garden into a larger seasonal organic fruit and vegetable garden. Our school garden will provide a green space for students where they will learn about organic gardening, waste reduction systems (e.g. composting, worm farming, improved recycling) and healthy food choices. The project aims to use the garden produce in the classroom for cooking and in the canteen to create a regular garden-fresh lunch item on the menu. We will establish a market stall to trade organic produce and this will create more opportunities for community involvement.
Canley Heights Public School
SCRAPS – Students Composting, Recycling and Processing Stuff
Canley Heights Public School is committed to developing, educating and enhancing student, teacher and community knowledge around waste management processes. 'SCRAPS' aims to minimise waste produced from our school through diverting food away from landfill, recycling and reusing materials. 'SCRAPS' will reduce food waste through establishing composting systems and worm farms. Waste will also be reduced through sorting and recycling paper, bottles, cans and ink cartridges. These sustainable initiatives will reduce our environmental impact, the cost of waste removal and improve our flora. 'SCRAPS' will educate students, teachers and the community through hands-on student, teacher and parent workshops.
Carlingford West Public School
H.O.P.P.E for our Future: Helping reduce Organic, Plastic, Paper and Electrical waste
Every day, Carlingford West's 1400 students and 86 staff generate a significant amount of waste. This waste can be divided into four major categories; plastic, paper, organics and electricity. Presently, we do little to prevent these materials from becoming environmentally toxic landfill. Other than a very basic paper recycling scheme, our school has no procedures in place to assist our students to learn how to reduce, renew and recycle. This needs to change. We are proposing the development and implementation of projects, practical lessons and daily routines that will help our ever-growing school reduce its environmental footprint and create environmentally conscious citizens.
Catherine McAuley Catholic Primary School
Planet mercy
This project introduces students and teachers in a Catholic school from a Mercy tradition to the thinking of Pope Francis in 'Laudato Si: On Care for our Common Home'. We will do this by integrating our existing Religious Education curriculum with other learning areas to create attractive and inspirational organic food/sensory gardens, a composting system, chicken run and worm farms. Experiences linked to the garden will enhance wellbeing and spirituality as well as measurable environmental sustainability outcomes. Motivated by core values of our school's tradition, students will explore what's happening to our common home and learn how to care for it.
Cessnock High School
Support faculty harvest market
The current gardening program will be developed into a self-sufficient Support Faculty Harvest Market that will run solely off the profits of the garden with the support of proposed seedling donations from a local business. Students will develop their skills in sustainable living while addressing a variety of Science and Agriculture Life Skills outcomes through planting, maintaining and harvesting organically grown fruit and vegetables. Furthermore, students will develop a variety of functional literacy and numeracy skills through promoting and managing the sales of produce to students and staff.
Claremont College
Global garden
This project aims to increase student knowledge of both:
- sustainable and healthy living
- the cultural diversity represented within our school.
Our project combines both these learning areas to create a 'Global Garden' where the edible plants traditionally used by different cultures will represent the multicultural makeup of our school community. Students in the Eco Warrior club will research edible plants native to certain cultures and the conditions necessary to grow such plants within our 'Global Garden' space. Students will also gain hands-on experience in planning, planting and maintaining the garden long-term, including propagating seeds and using self-watering systems. The garden will be used ongoingly as a teaching space and focal point for the Eco Warrior group.
Coniston Public School
Growing a greenhouse to garden
The Growing a Greenhouse to Garden project will enable students to successfully grow their own plants from seed in a UV protected greenhouse, track and record the growth of seedlings and transplant these into their school gardens for fruit and vegetable consumption and enhanced biodiversity. After investigating sustainable practices for plant growth at the Wollongong Botanical Gardens, students will then distribute their own raised seedlings to other schools and the local community through community market days enhancing sustainability across the region. They will conduct a learning exchange with University of Wollongong and TAFE students about sustainable plant production.
Coonabarabran High School
Sustainability Connections – The Learning Space Garden
We need to create a fresh-focused outdoor learning space incorporating significant aspects of sustainability and accessible to the School community. Including yearly plant production in a greenhouse using solar energy, the use of bore water and drip irrigation, the development of composting space and worm garden using organic waste producing organic fertiliser, a recycling space, accessible garden beds and a circular seating space this will provide a hands-on learning connection to the cycle of sustainability and the environment. In this space students can also prepare and cook the fruits of their labour using a portable solar powered oven.
Cringila Public School
Chicken coop project
This grant will assist in the development of a chicken coop that the students will design and build in our established Living Classroom. The integration of chickens into our current permaculture systems will allow all the stakeholders to see firsthand how food scraps, weeds and pests can be used to feed animals and then the animals in turn contribute to the garden as fertilisers, soil tillers and egg producers. The chicken project will consolidate and extend our whole school focus on sustainability and permaculture as stated in our School Environmental Management Plan.
Crossmaglen Public School
Water my lunch
We require another water tank as our current water tank supplies the whole school for our drinking water, toilets and general use (we have access to neither town water, nor bore water). The capacity of our water tank is unable to support our produce and cottage gardens on top of our general use. We are also educating the students in solar energy. Our project is to install a water tank, with a solar pump, for our growing and harvesting our organic produce. As a water wise accredited school, we are now educating the students in sustainable energy.
Dunedoo Central School
Sow the seed – the garden exchange
In a world focused on technology and convenience, albeit a 'disposable lifestyle', we're getting back to nature. School lessons become lifetime habits. Our current environmental impact is unsustainable. Fostering healthy, environmentally aware habits in future leaders will have a ripple effect into society. Hands-on lessons have the most impact.
An outdoor classroom, with a 'Paddock to Plate' aspect will inspire students to create nutritious, delicious meals – the fruits of their labour.
We host students with emotional, social, cognitive and physical disabilities. Our project will build confidence, foster friendships, encouraging healthy relationship and behaviour choices.
It will also promote positive, healthy and thoughtful habits through recycling.
Dungog High School
Eco cafe garden
Improve sustainability of Café by growing vegetables in our garden currently being re-established. Composting scraps for garden use. Minimise waste by reusing topping and milk containers as hanging planters, and cups, straws, bottles and lids as art installations. Water tank and drip irrigation will reduce water consumption. Students will design and produce a sensory trail in our garden area for the school community to use during breaks and as timeout to modify heightened behaviour. Student visions include pebble trail, plants that stimulate the senses of smell, touch, vision and taste. We will use water and artworks to aurally and visually enhance the environment.
Duranbah Public School
Clucktastic upcycled garden
Duranbah Public School, founded in 1892, is a small regional school in an historic farming region which is facing substantial pressures from encroaching local developments, such as, a new regional hospital and large housing developments. This project will ensure that despite the urbanisation of the region that the area's farming history stays alive at our school. This project will establish an upcycled chicken coop which will provide an innovative waste management solution and provide fulfilling learning opportunities for our students, including those with special needs. The fresh eggs will be used in our school kitchen and will be available for purchase through our school produce table.
Duval High School
Bee the change
'Bee the Change' is a project that hopes to establish a honeybee garden and hive at Duval High School to provide students, particularly those studying elective Agriculture, the opportunity to learn about the conservation of endangered bees in Australia, the benefits of bees as pollinators of plants and the rewards of honey production. This project will provide students with a wealth of knowledge of Australian biodiversity, hands-on skills in gardening and beekeeping, and entrepreneurial skills by collecting, packaging and marketing the honey made from the hive to the school and wider local community.
Eleebana Public School
Eleebana bush tucker garden
Eleebana is an Awabakal word which means 'peaceful, quiet place', and as a school we are seeking to create a space of peace, quiet, and cultural reflection and growth for our students. We are applying for an Eco Schools grant, with the support of our local Kumaridha Aboriginal Executive Consultative Group, to assist us to develop a yarning circle and bush tucker garden. Our garden will include native, edible plants, and a native beehive. Our students are future world changers, and we strive to equip each child with the knowledge needed to care for themselves, their community, and this planet.
Ferncourt Public School
Waste warriors – reducing, reusing, recycling
Our 'Waste warriors' project will create a whole-of-school approach to managing waste. Currently there is no recycling in the school. This project will introduce a recycling program and including separating rubbish into recyclables, food waste for composting and non-recyclables. The project will expand on the already established outdoor education program, a locally developed program that assists school communities in linking their environment to the school curriculum and encourages environmental stewardship. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) outcomes will be addressed, including values and attitudes, skills and knowledge. Students will develop an understanding of waste management and sustainability and the impact on their community.
Fisher Road School
One for the fish – less plastic in our school and oceans
Fisher Road School staff use many single use plastic (SUP) bags each day and are aware of the increasing problem plastics are causing in our catchments and oceans. 'One for the Fish' will result in better awareness, attitude and behavioural change amongst staff, students and the wider community. Programs such as shopping, lunch orders, swimming, library, work experience and gardening will replace disposable bags with Fisher Road School reusable bags. This project links directly into our environmental education program embedded in the curriculum and will be used as a basis for work skills programs.
Gilgandra High School
Sustainable food gardens
Our Environmental project involves the school's Agriculture, Hospitality and Aboriginal Education departments working collaboratively. Students will learn how to plant seeds (sowing depth, etc.) grow vegetables, kitchen herbs, edible Indigenous herbs and shrubs. Students will also cook with their produce using traditional and Aboriginal Bush Tucker ingredients. Agriculture students will grow seeds to produce plants for a Hospitality Kitchen Garden and Aboriginal Education Bush Tucker gardens. A water tank and worm farm will facilitate learning outcomes around sustainable food production. Learning outcomes will include; how to grow and cook your own fresh food; discovering the benefits of healthy fresh food, why sustainable food production is important, why we need to reduce food miles and how easy it is to do your part, composting/how to make natural fertilisers and why this is important, water conservation and sustainability, and connections between culture and food.
Gilgandra Public School
Gawaymbanha Bagaray-bang
The garden will be a space for students to rejuvenate an area of the school that has in the past not been utilised to its full potential. The sensory area of the garden will be a place for all students to have the opportunity to discover and learn about nature in a therapeutic way. The bush tucker garden will be a space for students to gain a deep understanding of the local Wiradjuri culture and historical land uses, while exploring their own sense of connectedness to the Land. The garden will be a meeting place connected to the curriculum and open to be used as a curriculum resource across all Key Learning Areas and for all classes.
Glenwood High School
Aboriginal Garden – bush tucker and native land rejuvenation
The project aims to regenerate an area of bushland by replanting native species and creating habitat for native fauna, with informative signs to educate about the significance of area to Aboriginal culture. The area will be used for significant Aboriginal Ceremonies and across all Key Learning Area's as a space to educate about Aboriginal outcomes across all curriculum's. It will allow students to get hands-on experience in bushland management, bush tucker and native sustainability.
Goolma Public School
SHRUB Sustainable Habitat Restoration Understorey Biodiversity
To restore habitat to encourage the return of native fauna resulting in increased biodiversity. By restoring the under and mid storey layers increasing number of shrubs will promote increase in the number and variety of birds, insects, frogs and reptiles as there will be reliable food sources. Water will be delivered to the plants ensuring their establishment and survival.
Children's capacity to identify flora and fauna species will continue to increase and be recorded through regular field studies. Improved filtered water quality will be improved through filtering to promote successful outcomes. We will also install timer irrigation system to plants to minimise water wastage.
Grays Point Public School
Sustainability/eco-friendly school in the park
The school is invested in providing produce to both the school canteen and our local community through the community garden. We wish to work with environmentalists in the area to support native animals and resist pollution, storm water and water pollution and reduce waste in general
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Gundagai Public School
The patch
The school aims to establish a green space with two distinct areas; a native garden and food garden, in the same large disused area of the playground that is currently out of bounds. The garden is positioned to rectify existing erosion issues, utilise space, create a flexible learning area and practical garden space. For the food garden, the vision is for each class (7 in total) in the school to have their own garden bed to grow seasonal vegetables. An orchard will also be planted. By establishing this garden students will be involved in the growing, producing and cooking of the food they have planted. In addition, this will link to a number of syllabus outcomes in a range of Key Learning Areas, including PDHPE, English, science, history and geography. For the native garden, native plantings with complementary pathways and a yarning circle that will act as an outdoor classroom will be established. Plants will be deliberately selected to educate students on traditional plant use as weaponry, shelter, medicine and food. This area will be named 'Yindyamarra', a Wiradjuri word meaning 'a way of living'. It speaks of gentleness, kindness and learning to do things slowly. This area will empower student decision making and connect the area to cross curricula learning.
Gunnedah South Public School
Gunnedah South bush tucker garden
The bush tucker project will allow the school community to come together to learn how the local Aboriginal people of Gunnedah used the environment to benefit their health and diet. The students will learn from Elders and representatives from the Aboriginal community of the traditional way the land was managed to ensure sustainability, the foods that can be sourced from the bush and the medicinal advantages that were gained by Aboriginal people. The project will focus on recycling food scraps to compost, mulch and rejuvenate soil and existing gardens, the use of native plants to maximise water usage and harvesting water to ensure efficiency.
| Organisation | Project title |
|---|---|
| Hampden Park Public School | Interactive garden |
| Hastings Secondary College | Outdoor spaces and garden classrooms |
| Havenlee School | Vertical garden project |
| Illawarra Environmental Education Centre | Killalea – yarning circle and bush tucker garden |
| Ingleburn High School | Kid's canteen recycle and grow |
| International Football and Tennis School | IFTS precious plastics |
| Katoomba Public School | Waste management system |
| Ladysmith Public School | The Green Guardians – caring for our environment |
| Liverpool Public School | Sensory, vegetable and bush garden walk |
| Manly Village Public School | Urban food garden |
| Marie Bashir Public School | The future is in our hands |
| MET School - Albury Campus | Take your thyme |
| Mulbring Public School | Zero heroes |
| Murrumburrah High School | Gotta grow green in a greenhouse |
| Murrumburrah Public School | Growing to learn |
| Namoi Valley Christian School | Prepare, plant, make, eat, compost...repeat |
| Newcastle Waldorf School | Indigenous bush medicine and bush crafts gardens |
Hampden Park Public School
Interactive garden
Our goal is to create a sensory garden where our students can interact and engage with the natural environment. Our students mainly live in medium density housing and don't have many opportunities to learn about nature through exploration. Our aim is to provide opportunities where students can use their five senses to interact with nature while also learning about responsibility, leadership and cooperation. Students will be growing fruit and vegetables to use in our cooking program, set up a compost and worm farm and encourage local wildlife into the garden by learning about beneficial planting. Our goal is to embed our gardens into our everyday teaching to ensure its sustainability into the future.
Hastings Secondary College
Outdoor spaces and garden classrooms
Goals for our garden:
- To enhance outdoor education within our school by growing a variety of foods in garden spaces and incorporating a variety of sustainability practices. These spaces would include growing plants and herbs that are Indigenous to the Biripi People, the original custodians of the land in which the gardens are situated and to other parts of the world that reflect the backgrounds of our students.
- To have children from various grades working together with the growing process as a manner of community building and relationships which draw from our college values; Respectful, Cooperative and Safe.
- To foster connections within our community by drawing on the expertise and participation of our families, neighbours, elders of the Biripi Council and community associations. These could be an alliance with all Port Macquarie RSL clubs with the growing, harvesting and distribution of rosemary plants in yearly ceremonies.
- To engage students in constructiveness, an understanding of connectivity, and an inquiry model of learning that meets the intentions of our new curriculum. full student participation catering for all student abilities (planting, watering, harvesting, measuring, communication, deliveries, collating, counting, budgeting, distribution, etc.)
- To promote the ideas of urban agriculture as part of food security.
- To model different ways of food production and preparation, with attention to Indigenous Ways of Knowing and place-based learning.
- To create a dedicated outdoor learning and sensory space for all students.
Havenlee School
Vertical garden project
Gardens bring colour, movement, sound and ambience to an environment. Our students rely on these sensory experiences to engage, inspire, calm and support their learning and participation in the school community. A vertical garden provides rich sensory and learning experiences, and specifically, accessibility to learn and participate in horticulture, and sustainability. A vertical garden that can be used to grow plants for school catering provides real life, meaningful experiences for our students. The additional benefits of providing a habitat for birds and insects such as butterflies can teach our students that they too, can contribute to caring for the environment.
Illawarra Environmental Education Centre
Killalea – yarning circle and bush tucker garden
Illawarra Environmental Education Centre's – Education programs and Aboriginal Cultural Days will be greatly enhanced by the addition of a yarning circle and bush tucker garden. Due to the cultural significance of Killalea, the yarning circle and bush tucker garden will be designed by local Dharawal community members, sourced by our local AECG. Illawarra EEC's Environmental Education programs and Aboriginal Cultural Days will be greatly enhanced by the addition of a yarning circle and bush tucker garden. Due to the cultural significance of Killalea, the yarning circle and bush tucker garden will be designed by local Dharawal community members, sourced by our local AECG. The bush tucker garden will contain important Indigenous plants for eating, medicine, hygiene and survival. Concepts such as sustainable resource management and protecting one's totem species will be conveyed. The yarning circle will be an area for Aboriginal Educators and EEC teachers to communicate environmental and cultural education in the form of storyboarding in the sand circle, dance, message sticks, art etc. This effective and engaging Aboriginal 'way' of learning will allow students to discover that environmental sustainable practices are embedded into Aboriginal culture through a deep connection to the land. The yarning circle and bush tucker garden will provide Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students a chance to explore and develop their own connection to the land and in doing so, develop a higher appreciation for the environment.
Ingleburn High School
Kid's canteen recycle and grow
The students at Ingleburn High School currently run the Kid's Canteen and wish to start a comprehensive Recycle and Grow Program, that will enable a huge reduction in waste at the school. The school currently creates 300 cubic meters of waste each year and 90% of this goes to land fill. It costs the school approximately $20,000 a year to dispose of this to landfill. We intend to reduce this by 30% over the next two years. Funds from the recycling will go towards the expansion of the tiny Support Unit Herb and Vegetable Garden. The products harvested from the garden will then be used for sale within the Kids Canteen. As the recycling will be ongoing, this project, once initiated, will be self-funded and sustainable and will continue to impact on mainstream and support students well into the future. This project is linked to several Key Learning Areas within the school and will also impact students from our neighbouring schools as they complete work placement in the Kid's Canteen.
International Football and Tennis School
IFTS precious plastics
Our 'IFTS Precious Plastic' project aims to address the threat that plastic has become to entire ecosystems and societies. We aim to educate students and the community to change the perception of plastic. Connecting and empowering individuals to take charge of their own recycling processes to address societies questions around large waste companies recycling. We will use plastic collected from within our community as a resource, turning what is currently discarded waste into useful recycled products. Through the building of four machines, one designed to shred plastic into flakes and the other three to mould, press and extrude plastic into recycled products/items. These products can be sold within the community to further grow our project and environmental influence.
Katoomba Public School
Waste management system
Our school currently composts most food waste and recycles paper, but still sends much of our waste to landfill. We would like to do a waste survey before implementing a comprehensive waste management system. This should include enhancing our composting system and introducing a Recycling Station for sorting waste. Students will be pivotal in conducting research, contributing ideas and educating their fellow students about the need for reducing waste and recycling/composting the vast majority of waste produced in our school.
Ladysmith Public School
The Green Guardians – caring for our environment
The school currently has a vegetable garden which is an underused learning resource. It is impacted by the limited size, water inefficiencies, lack of composting areas and access to suitable instructional facilities for outdoor learning. As a result, this project focuses on improvements to all of these areas. We intend to: extend the capacity of the garden with the purchase of four additional raised beds; improve water efficiency through the repair and extension of the existing watering system and the purchase of tap timers; implement a composting system with the purchase of four large compost bins to improve our current waste disposal and create a valuable garden resource; reinstate a disused worm farm; purchase materials for the construction of multi-purpose tables and purchase a tool shed and tools. This project will improve and enhance our current garden, foster environmental and sustainable practices and become a hub for learning across all curriculum areas.
Liverpool Public School
Sensory, vegetable and bush garden walk
Liverpool Public School seeks to provide a garden space where students can connect with nature in both an educational and restorative way. This will greatly complement existing lawn and asphalt areas. The garden will be largely 'sensory' and include: scented plants, musical objects, a book-swap library, vegetable garden, worm farms, water feature and water catchment signage. Plant labels made by children will expand throughout the school to cover existing native plants and create an Aboriginal bush walk. The new plants and opportunity to connect to nature by spending time and running lessons in this space will improve habitat and stewardship of nature.
Manly Village Public School
Urban food garden
Manly has seen increased housing development and diminished 'green space' to accommodate the vast number of tourists and families who come to enjoy the benefits of coastal living. The school itself, built in the heart of Manly in 1858, is mostly bricks and paving and the majority of its students either live in units or have limited outdoor space. Led by students and teachers, the urban food garden will offer much needed green space, showcase urban sustainability, educating and inspiring the local community on how to create and nurture nutritious food gardens in the limited space they have.
Marie Bashir Public School
The future is in our hands
The future is in our hands is a whole school initiative that will be implemented in 2019 to further extend the school's current environmental education practices. This project will ensure that all students in K-6 and also, invited Schools for Specific Purposes participate in more enriched educational activities focusing on sustainability. Students (with the help of teachers, parent volunteers and the local community) will be able to participate in constructing new garden beds, maintaining plants and harvesting, composting and taking care of worm farms, and constructing greenhouses, creating new areas for inclusive spaces within the natural environment for students to use. There will be a sensory garden to cater for students with additional needs along with a focus on targeting waste.
MET School – Albury Campus
Take your thyme
Our purpose is to utilise unused grounds to grow herbs, edible flowers, fruit and vegetables in order to educate and inspire our students to understand the processes of a sustainable 'garden-to-table' approach to food. Through patterns of sustainability we aim to generate funds for the expansion of our garden by utilising the produce in cooking and selling to community. We would also like to place high emphasis on the current wastage at our facility and demonstrate how our students can cultivate fresh produce, use organic waste to provide fertiliser for our gardens and continue the cycle at home in order to reduce their carbon footprint.
Mulbring Public School
Zero heroes
Our aim is to reduce, reuse and recycle, becoming a fully sustainable, zero waste school. Mulbring Public is a small school in a rural setting, with future focused teaching on limited funding. The importance to educate the students about sustainability and zero waste is vital, in order to reduce environmental impacts and atmospheric gases caused by landfill waste, educating students about minimising consumption of packaged products, reducing impacts on oceanic creatures and informing the community about the impacts of waste, particularly soft plastics.
Murrumburrah High School
Gotta grow green in a greenhouse
Murrumburrah High School is within a cluster of smaller feeder schools and forms a learning community which educates the district's students. We work with children from preschool ages to HSC students and all in between. We wish to enhance our agricultural area with a purpose-built greenhouse tunnel for propagation and seeding of trees and shrubs for planting in schools and throughout the wider school and general community. We have actively been involved in the 'Greening the Grainbelt' project through Landcare and wish to extend this learning into the school. The greenhouse tunnel would enable us to grow stock for planting days and revegetation projects and involve learning from germination to establishment and all steps between. It will allow us to augment our environmental education to include this and other concepts to do with environmental sustainability and biodiversity issues.
Murrumburrah Public School
Growing to learn
The 'Learning to Grow' project will establish an edible, sustainable garden that will highlight the environmental and health benefits of growing your own food. Students will investigate how to improve an area of our school, reduce waste and implement sustainable practices. They will collect, analyse and present data on the school's biodiversity, waste production and soil condition. Students will explore options to manage, improve and allow living things to thrive. The garden will create a calm, yet engaging environment for our students with special needs, while linking the curriculum for all students.
Namoi Valley Christian School
Prepare, plant, make, eat, compost...repeat
Our Project is based around using resources in a sustainable manner and encouraging students to be actively involved in preparing soil, growing plants, collecting produce and composting. This is a process which we see as continuous and will enable students to understand more about the entire growing/composting cycle. It will benefit the environment by creating a sustainable process at school, while also embedding this in students minds to then implement at home. If we can show students this simple way of sustainable gardening, we hope they would continue to recall this idea in years to come and have a positive impact on their immediate environment.
Newcastle Waldorf School
Indigenous bush medicine and bush crafts gardens
We propose to design and create bush craft and bush medicine gardens using plants that are Indigenous to the Newcastle region. Our intention is to learn the sustainable ways in which local Aboriginal people traditionally used, and continue to use, these plants for medicine, tools, bags and clothing, with the added bonus of creating more sustainable, native gardens for the student environment. In doing so we hope to shift and enhance the way our students, and their families, think about sustainable material production in Australia, while simultaneously honouring and fostering local Aboriginal wisdom and student leadership within the school.
Oatlands Public School
Aboriginal seasonal food walk
The Aboriginal Seasonal Food Walk is designed around the 6 D'harawal seasons. The trail will teach students the significance of these 6 seasons, how Aboriginal and European seasons intersect, and the plants used by Aboriginal people for food and to identify the seasons. The project will significantly improve biodiversity in the area through native plantings and creation of a 'habitat stepping stone' for local wildlife. Each season will be signposted on the trail with plants used by Aboriginal people to identify changes in the environment. Planted along the walk will be multiple bush tucker species, educational signage and habitat-friendly landscaping.
Oatley Public School
Wingara – 'to think' (Indigenous bush tucker garden and yarning circle)
The student leadership team identified a sloping area of the school grounds suffering from erosion, poor soil quality and weed infestation. Establishing a native bush tucker garden will rehabilitate this area by passively redirecting storm water, improving soil quality and increasing the biodiversity of our school garden. Incorporating a yarning circle will provide an outdoor learning space where the cross-curriculum priorities of sustainability and land rehabilitation can occur in a practical setting simultaneously linking into our Aboriginal education programs. This project will improve the local environment and bolster our commitment to cultural awareness while providing a calm space to learn and reflect.
Parramatta East Public School
PEPS growers market
Parramatta East Public School (PEPS) Growers Market aims to develop seasonal and sustainable food gardens within an inner-city environment. The PEPS Green Team will grow and harvest vegetables year-round, learning about sustainable living, healthy eating and environmentally friendly practices. The organic food growing garden will be a classroom of the future, engaging all students at PEPS in learning opportunities spanning all Key Learning Areas. We hope to include worm farms and composting in caring for our gardens and promoting sustainable practices. Students will explore the cultural diversity of the PEPS community and grow food to cater to the needs of all members of our school, including the integration of an Aboriginal Bush Tucker garden. Using support from professional learning and local community members expertise, we hope to achieve our vision of providing fresh produce to our supportive, multicultural community at the PEPS Growers Market.
Picnic Point Public School
Bee mindful garden
It is vital to educate our students in issues regarding the environment. Our 'Bee mindful' garden will reinforce our school Learner Qualities of mindfulness, collaboration, curiosity, grit, zest, optimism and reflection. Through kitchen garden our students will explore all these qualities. Our project seeks to stimulate curiosity about the natural world as they learn to understand growth and nutrient cycles. The students will cooperate as they plant and cultivate, be mindful and reflective as they face challenges, and become zesty and gritty through hands-on work with each other. Our kitchen garden will be a fantastic teaching and learning tool.
Pilliga Public School
Kamilaroi veggie and bush tucker garden
Pilliga's Kamilaroi Veggie and Bush Tucker garden will use existing neglected garden beds to grow vegetables, fruit and bush tucker plants for the students to learn how to use the vegetables and specific Kamilaroi plants in local recipes. The students will use a clever kit which will provide green manure for the plants that they grow due to the climate and soil of Pilliga. Students as part of their Kamilaroi language program will create signs in Kamilaroi for each plant and create a Kamilaroi recipe book for the community. The project meets many areas of our Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) scope and sequence at our school. It will use neglected garden beds and provide greater authenticity to our Kamilaroi language program which runs weekly.
Punchbowl Boys' High School
Gardening for connection
The project will address a lack of community engagement in caring for the local environment. Working together to create
an attractive and productive space in a currently disused area which is often full of litter will:
- promote student ownership and appreciation of the space
- allow the school to work with the community, including Indigenous community members, to build connection to land
- provide an outdoor learning space for Refugee, Learning Support, Visual Arts, Science, Technical and Applied Studies and Human Society and its Environment classes
All of these things enhance the way our local environment is valued and cared for by the school community.
Quambone Public School
Fresh food for us – a food garden to beat the drought
At Quambone Public School students are currently living and breathing environmental issues that are affecting their families, their farms (including the future of their farms), and of course, the flow on effect that these issues have on this remote town in general. They are experiencing firsthand the impact of drought and other water issues that have compounded the effect of the current drought. Our project will see students learning about, creating and maintaining a drought tolerant food garden that fundamentally relies on sustainable practices and produces fresh, nutritious food that can be shared with the community.
Randwick Public School
Kitchen garden and native corridor establishments
We currently have an established kitchen garden program. Some of our garden beds are old and require replacing, we are wanting to use more natural, sustainable, materials to do this. Our site is currently undergoing large scale construction (completion due Sept-Dec 2018) and we would like to establish native corridors to assist the safe travel of any local native animals that live on site and in the surrounding area who may have had their homes disturbed during the work. Replanting our beds with a combination of native plants and fruits and vegetables will hopefully help students continue to enjoy the cycle of growing plants to eat as well as protecting the native animal species on our school site.
Redlands Junior School
Redlands Junior School
Our project seeks to embed deeper understanding of how people and environments are interconnected through inquiry learning. The garden will be managed by the Student Representative Council students with 2 nominated teachers guiding and helping and will be available as a teaching resource for the whole school. Sustainability and the importance of minimising our environmental footprint by cutting down on food waste, producing our own organic food, as well as our own organic compost is a focus. Healthy eating will be learned from the pick and grow garden as well as the benefits of promoting pollination through the provision of stingless bees.
Repton Public School
Gaagalnyarr juluumgo garden
We need a Gumbaynggirr Connecting to Country garden to explore sustainability through Aboriginal culture. Our garden name 'Gaagalnyarr Juluumgo' means 'from the ocean to the mountains'. The garden design allows students to journey through edible, medicinal and weaving plants from different environments in Gumbaynggirr country, from Mylestom to Guyra. It will contextualise learning for multiple curriculum Key Learning Areas, with a Yarning Circle as an outdoor learning space. All students will be involved in the creation of our new garden, located where our students eat and play, embedding Indigenous sustainability perspectives into every day at our school.
Robertson Public School
Robertson Public School outdoor garden classroom
Robertson Public Outdoor Garden Classroom will provide a bridge between the strong Agricultural and Aboriginal Community of Robertson and the school. Robertson Public School envisages creating an outdoor garden classroom that will provide the opportunity for teachers, and the community to engage with students across all curriculum areas within an interactive outdoor space. The garden will connect Aboriginal bush food and habitat providing gardens with veggie growing gardens to link the space to the Aboriginal, Agricultural and natural environment of Robertson. Currently the school has an area that contains some of the resources and infrastructure able to be utilised as an outdoor teaching area of this nature, however, it is not currently in use and hasn't been used to its full potential. The outdoor classroom will include garden beds for edible food plants such as veggies, fruit and Indigenous bush tucker plants, a yarning circle for storytelling, and natural materials to investigate sensory skills and to encourage wildlife, and composting. The project will involve the education of the classroom teachers in how to utilise the outdoor classroom in all areas of their teaching. The entire school and community will be involved with all stages of its design and implementation, so the school can take pride and ownership of their new revitalised outdoor learning area.
Sofala Public School
Recycling, composting and chook scratch area
Sofala school's project will help students and parents to become more aware of waste and recycling options and the positive effect recycling and composting makes on their environment and health. Students will be able to collect and sort school waste and devise ways to reduce, recycle and reuse waste. Organic waste will be used to improve soil quality and feed worms and school chooks. Students will research ways of composting organic matter and develop gardens using recycled organic waste such as the African Keyhole Composting Garden and rotating garden beds. Visits to local recycling and composting centres will provide learning opportunities. The Trust funds will enable the establishment of a school recycling and composting area, fund bus hire so students and parents can see and learn recycling and composting practices and assist with the purchase of gardening/safety equipment.
St Helens Park Public School
Indigenous bush trail
The Indigenous trail will contain a selection of local medicinal and edible plants. The selected plants will be used as a stimulus for learning to respect and acknowledge the contributions, culture and knowledge of Indigenous people. This LearnScape will provide a habitat for local fauna, such as the koala, native bees and regent honey eater. To make this LearnScape more sustainable we will be planting flora that are native to the area and using rainwater collected on site to care for the gardens. This area will be enhanced by a mural and totem poles designed and painted in consultation with local elders to tell the stories and celebrate the culture of local Indigenous people.
St John the Evangelist Catholic High School
Living garden classroom
A Living Classroom is a learning laboratory, demonstrating that achieving sustainability and further, going beyond sustainability to build a regenerative culture, is a process. This garden classroom will demonstrate the role of soil, water, material and energy cycling, food production and the absence of waste in nature as foundational understandings that precede the awakening of a regenerative culture. While a complex system, the lessons of this garden classroom can be understood at an elementary level by both junior students and students with special needs, through hands-on interaction with its elements. It will also offer extension opportunities for all students, staff and community members.
St Joseph's Parish School
Save and reuse project
We have a desire to reduce the volume of food scraps going to landfill. We could do this by collecting food scraps separately and recycling in worm farms, through composting and feeding chooks. The worm farms and compost can be used to fertilise school garden beds especially our lunch time garden club vegetable patch. By having chooks, we are showing the students another alternative recycling model. Our local council does not currently offer any recycling of town garbage collection. Therefore, our students have no daily experience of recycling usable garbage or how we can protect the environment in practical, sustainable ways.
St Mary's War Memorial School, West Wyalong
INSPIRE Investigate, Nurture, Sustain, Produce, Re-establish, Engage
This project will re-establish sustainable gardens in existing beds. Edible plants and vegetables, including bush tucker, will be planted for school community use with a worm farm purchased to reduce lunchbox and canteen waste, using castings for soil improvement. Native, drought tolerant plants will be sourced locally with consideration to the dry climate and to attract insects and birds. Students will learn the environmental requirements and benefits of the growth cycle of plants - soil preparation, crop rotations, plant patterns, nutrients and consider the benefits of water sustainability through watering, water retention and mulching. The gardens will promote a safe place, a sense of belonging for the students, a place to gather.
St Peters Anglican College Broulee
Market garden
Students in year 8 will participate in a year-long subject titled 'Market Gardening'. Curriculum from Mathematics, Science and Technical and Applied Studies will be embedded into this subject with the teachers reporting on several of the outcomes. Other subject content will also be embedded but will not necessarily be reported on; French, English, Geography, History and Art. Students will spend half of the subject in the classroom, learning explicitly, and the other half in the garden tending to the crops. The students will be in charge of running the business of the Market Garden and we aim to sell vegetable boxes each week to members of the community. Volunteers from our local community will be encouraged to take part in the volunteer program. Students from Life Skills will take part in the Life Skills program. Students will learn about growing plants sustainably, running a business, data analysis and experimentation as well as all the hands-on skills for a labour workforce.
St Philomenas Primary School Bathurst
Frog friendly habitat
Australia is home to over 200 species of frogs, however 43 of them are listed as endangered or vulnerable and 3 extinct. With specific learning outcomes to support the project, a 'Frog Friendly Habitat' will be constructed within the school grounds, and specifics components of the habitat catering to different stages of learning. This important project will engage students through the construction of frog habitat and delivery lessons on ecosystem function. Funding will be used to purchase of building equipment, plants, pump, lights, spray system and pond. Any surplus funding will be used for fencing and other native species of flora.
Stella Maris Catholic Primary School
The Shellharbour rock pool project
The Shellharbour rock pool project will provide education and training for all of the teaching and support staff. The education will combine place-based pedagogical theory and practice, engaging in hands-on learning. Furthermore, the education will provide teaching staff with innovative approaches to integrating outdoor learning within the curriculum. The project will encourage the students to be active participants in environmental restoration by maintaining the rock pools and harbour. In addition, the students will learn about biodiversity, water efficiency, water conservation, storm water management and waste management. This project is required to equip the students with social and leadership skills and to encourage the students to develop into confident, creative and critically thinking adults. The main aim of the project is for the students to develop an intrinsic motivation and desire to care for the environment.
| Organisation | Project title |
|---|---|
| The Jannali High School | Eco learning area |
| Thurgoona Public School | Thurgoona croakers – return of the froglet |
| Toormina High School | Yuraal wuudgga-mann |
| Toronto High School | Fruit and vegetable garden and chicken coop |
| Trangie Central School | Birds, bees and healthy trees |
| Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College Berkeley Vale Campus | Aboriginal Bush Tucker garden |
| Tuntable Falls Community School | Continue the Past into the Future: creating an ethno-botany trail/bush tucker track/botanic garden |
| Warrumbungle Environmental Education Centre | Warrumbungle hub: connect, respect change |
| Waterfall Public School | Nature Inspired Learning Environment (NILE) |
| Wellington High School | Berry delights and herbs |
| Wombat Public School | Wombat 'wastage to greenage' Garden |
| Woonona East Public School | WEPS Kitchen garden program |
| Woy Woy Public School | Dreaming trail and bush tucker garden |
| Yamba Public School | Growing green minds |
The Jannali High School
Eco learning area
This program is needed at The Jannali High School (TJHS) as it aligns with our sense of care for the environment. Care is at the centre of values of the school. The environment program is to construct an outdoor learning area focused around teaching our students the importance of sustainability and waste management. To construct an outdoor learning area focused around teaching our students about the importance of sustainability and waste management. The area will consist of various raised garden beds, utilising existing greenhouse for cultivation, composting area and seating area. Currently our school has limited environmental projects that students can be a part of and, as a result, we have seen an increasing problem with our rubbish in the playground and a lack of care for the environment. With limited funding we have struggled implementing any major initiatives at TJHS, however we have still been able to undertake small projects such as Clean up Australia Day, World Environment Day and participate in Speak for the Planet with our newly formed sustainability club. Sustainability is across all Key Learning Areas in high school and we need more opportunities to develop the appreciation and necessity for a sustainable future.
Thurgoona Public School
Thurgoona croakers – return of the froglet
The Thurgoona Croakers project will provide opportunities for Thurgoona Public School to partner with the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage and Charles Sturt University to undertake field studies that will inform the enhancement of habitat for the endemic and vulnerable Sloane's Froglet (Crinia sloanei) within the school grounds. The documenting of both the field studies and the enhancement of habitats will provide meaningful data that will be linked to a range of curriculum areas including science, arts, literacy, and numeracy.
Toormina High School
Yuraal wuudgga-maan
The name of our project is 'yuraal wuungga-mann'. This means in the local language yuraal – food, wuungga – produce through work/make, mann place. The aim of the project is twofold to develop an outdoor area in which the support unit students can be encouraged to gain opportunities in both practical and educational skills in a calming environment and become the caretakers of the garden. The other aim is to encourage the participation of other student bodies into the created space. By creating an edible garden and outdoor classroom which is centred around Indigenous food, all students will be encouraged into making informed nutritional food choices and sharing those choices with families.
Toronto High School
Fruit and vegetable garden and chicken coop
With the introduction of the new Stage 4 Technology Mandatory syllabus, the school is attempting to base the Agriculture and Food Technologies Module around sustainability. With the introduction of gardens, the students can grow fruit, herbs and vegetables that can be used as ingredients in the classrooms. Housing chickens will also allow students to care for and maintain the chickens and use the eggs for practical cooking lessons. Both of these areas will give the students a sense of responsibility and also make them aware of how to live more sustainably into the future.
Trangie Central School
Birds, bees and healthy trees
We will create a bird sanctuary within the school grounds that will attract and protect native birds of the Central West. Currently, many small bird species are under threat from loss of habitat due to extensive agriculture, and bird and cat attacks. We have identified an under-utilised space behind the school library with 2 established native trees. We want to enable the success of the sanctuary by installing a water tank for irrigation and a native beehive for pollination. We have already started counting and identifying bird species in the area prior to planting to enable a pre- and post-analysis to determine the success of the project.
Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College Berkeley Vale Campus
Aboriginal Bush Tucker garden
The Aboriginal Bush Tucker garden will provide an opportunity to further integrate Indigenous perspectives into our curriculum through a kinaesthetic approach. Students will plan, landscape and plant the area around the existing Yarning Circle. The garden which is created will support native fauna and provide an authentic space to learn about Indigenous land management and culture. The produce from the garden will be used by Food Technology students to promote the versatility and value of native flora. The garden will engage students across Key Learning Areas learning about sustainability, Indigenous culture and representations of the environment through art and language.
Tuntable Falls Community School
Continue the Past into the Future: creating an ethno-botany trail/bush tucker track/botanic garden
The aim of this project is to work closely with representatives of the Wiyabal people from Nimbin Rocks Nursery to recreate a pre-contact riparian zone by transforming a weed-infested area into a Botanic Garden/Ethno-Botany Trail/Bush Tucker Track. Endemic species will be labelled in a professional manner, as fitting for a Botanic Garden. This project will promote and facilitate respect, trust and positive relationships between local Indigenous people and the wider community. Upon completion we will have an open day to celebrate 'continuing the past into the future'. Local schools and the wider community will be invited.
Warrumbungle Environmental Education Centre
Warrumbungle hub: connect, respect change
The Warrumbungle: Connect, Respect, Change Program will involve selected Stage 3 student leaders from the Warrumbungle Hub, which comprises of three NSW Departmental Schools. Students will be involved in a three - day leadership camp and perform a Sustainability Action Plan that not only develops their self-confidence and resilience but also enhances the student voice by building on connections within the school, school community, and other student school leaders. The students will be provided with the skills and knowledge to develop biodiversity and school waste reduction initiatives on their own and also as a team leader. This will contribute to their School Environmental Management Plan, informing their Principals, peers and school communities of strategies in which to improve and enhance the sustainability of the school environment. This program will also build on English Concept Stage 3 Pedagogy.
Waterfall Public School
Nature Inspired Learning Environment (NILE)
The Nature Inspired Learning Environment will create several separate yet linked learning spaces, incorporating a multi-layered approach to promoting environmental and sustainability learning. This space will provide opportunities for students to interact with and learn about native flora and fauna and will be large enough to accommodate a whole class for teaching and learning activities. Students will be involved in the design, planning, cultivation and ongoing care and learn about sustainable practices through blending of traditional and modern methods. The project will extend to create a dry creek bed, planting of 300 specially selected plants and introduction of native beehives and bird feeders.
Wellington High School
Berry delights and herbs
Wellington High School's project will create two gardens. One is a berry/fruit garden that will encourage the students to eat fruits while they are constructing, maintaining and learning about horticultural and ecological practices, with an emphasis on delicious instant healthy food as opposed to unhealthy, fast, processed food. The other is to create an herb garden, introducing students to new fragrance and flavours. The produce will be used during food technology classes, taken home or over supply sold at the town markets. The gardens will be located in an area that will create function, learning, community and enjoyment.
Wombat Public School
Wombat 'wastage to greenage' Garden
Wombat Public School and our volunteers, including horticulturist Steve Corkery, are in the process of re-inventing our kitchen and garden program. Wombat PS and volunteers have designed an exciting new multifaceted sustainable garden. As a school community we are becoming passionate about the recycling of waste into plant growth and with support are working to create an ecosystem involving chickens, worms, native bees, annual and perennial vegetables, food forest and composting system. The school wants to build student awareness of the environment, respect and a love for nature as well as embracing traditional values and customs as the project builds into the future.
Woonona East Public School
WEPS Kitchen garden program
Woonona East Public School (WEPS) will install an interactive Kitchen Garden space in close proximity to the school canteen and hall. The space will include a raised garden bed for each Stage, as well as a bed for the volunteer student and parent Earlybirds Garden Club. An outdoor bench and sink will also be included in the space, providing an outdoor learning area. The WEPS community has a strong interest in growing and harvesting vegetables, herbs and fruit, yet the current school garden is located in a hard-to-reach part of the school grounds. The new location provides visibility, ease of access and direct sun.
Woy Woy Public School
Dreaming trail and bush tucker garden
By rejuvenating an old, unused garden area, we will create a Dreaming Trail and Bush Tucker Garden. Using rainwater tank irrigation, composting and traditional methods of harvesting food, students will learn about the importance of sustainable environments while connecting the Aboriginal community to culture and land. By implementing the use of English and Aboriginal Symbols on signs throughout the garden, the understanding and use of traditional and native foods sources becomes accessible to the whole school community. Native flora and fauna will find a healthy habitat and the school will benefit through outdoor teaching and learning within a healthy ecosystem.
Yamba Public School
Growing green minds
Our project aims to create kitchen gardens by rehabilitating the existing garden beds and re-establishing the schools garden club. We will establish beds to grow fruits, vegetables, native bush tucker and herbs that will be used in classroom cooking, by the school canteen and by our local community. We aim to create a seed saving program and develop infrastructure to promote a sustainable project. This will provide opportunities to integrate environmental messages and outdoor lessons across Key Learning Areas. We will integrate a school waste management system into this project to as another way to enhance school sustainability and reduce environmental impact.