Project: Vegetable Gardens

Sponsor: Coles

Summary

Little River Primary School in regional Victoria applied for a Coles Junior Landcare School Garden Grant in 2009 to fund a school vegetable garden. They used their funding to purchase a worm farm, compost bin and raised garden beds.

The school has incorporated their vegetable garden into many areas of the curriculum. In science, the students gained an insight into the living and non-living component of the environment, and identified and described the structural features of living things/

In Literacy, each class created a plant diary that recorded their observations and reflections of the process. They were presented as a photostory in a local competition, with several students winning Gold and Silver prizes.

In Mathematics, students plotted the data they collected into tables and graphs to track growth and changes in the vegetable garden. The gardens were also used in the term topic of “personal wellbeing”, in which they learnt about healthy eating.

The project has also engaged the wider community. Parents have attended ‘working bees’ and ran an additional fundraising campaign. Local business also contributed by donating seeds and plants, and contributed further money to fund seven garden beds.

A parent said, “This was a fantastic project that supported learning within our school. The garden beds look terrific and as a parent I can see the links to the sustainability focus of the school.”