School Case Studies
A number of schools have had success with their gardens - some have been gardening as a school community for years.
Jiggi Primary School Garden
Jiggi Primary School is a small school of 45 children situated in a beautiful valley in the North East of NSW. Children face stiff competition in eating the harvest – wallabies, bush turkeys and bandicoots can ruin a garden in these parts overnight. So the garden has 2 metre high fences and is formed in raised beds where children can comfortably work at waist height. The garden was devised and built by a team of parents and teachers for the Tooty Fruity Vegie progam.
In it’s first year of production this garden has produced zucchini, tomatoes, silverbeet and squash (little round zucchini). Pictured are two Jiggi students scavenging for ripe vegies.
In contrast to the usual sausage sizzle, parents and teachers are preparing meat and vegie kebabs and fruit salad for their end of year celebrations. Where possible, garden harvests are used in the canteen and at such functions.
Vegie Gardening in Coraki
Coraki Primary School established a garden at the beginning of 2002 when they started the Tooty Fruity Vegie program. An earlier garden located near the main road was vandalised so this time the garden was located at the rear of the school, close to the transition class and smaller children’s play ground. It was fenced and a load of beautifully rotted tea tree mulch was kindly donated by a parent.
Coraki children have planted (and even mistakenly over planted in their enthusiasm) vegetable seeds, bulbs and seedlings and have has the opportunity to discover the joy of growing and nurturing living things. They have taken great pride in how well things have grown and even hand watered using 2 litre milk bottles for months during the extended drought of late 2002. Brimming with pride, the children picked their first harvest and generously donated it to the kids in the kitchen cooking class held at school.
The ‘classroom in the garden’ has integrated maths, science, technology and environmental studies. Students who have not always performed strongly in written work have been outstanding in the acquisition of practical skills learned in the garden and the gardening work has served as a good ‘time out’ period for children too fidgety for sitting at a desk for long periods.
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