Life Lessons

SERIES 24 | Episode 26

Costa visits a high school garden that's integral to the curriculum

Students who had gardens in their Port Kembla primary school were keen to have one when they went to secondary school - so they set one up!

That was five years ago and Aaron Sorensen helped them. "At the primary school they developed the foundation skills on how to maintain their permaculture garden, it made sense that they were involved in the design of it. What that meant was that they read the landscape, so they became designers by understanding how the site was being currently used and then gleaning information from what they wanted, what the school community wanted and develop this spatial plan that actually worked in this space."

The cultural diversity of the region was also factored into the design.

Student Tereza says that's important. "I think it really emphasised the multiculturalism of the school. We're a very diverse school. I think we have over 100 different nationalities. We have South American areas and things like that and so it really incorporated that."

The principal, Stephen Goodley, has seen first-hand the many benefits the 1200 square metre garden brings to the students. "In terms of curriculum, we're linking what happens in the classroom to down here, so this is genuinely a living classroom, so what we are doing is, what the students are learning in class, they then bring down here and do a practical element inside the garden," he says.

"Part of the benefits are that with students who possibly don't perform as well in the classroom as we would like in some ways, but they find a voice down in the garden," said Stephen. "They find something down here that's different to the classroom and they can show that they are really good at something, so we call that engagement."

Jamie, a student, says, "If it wasn't for the garden, I would have been probably not been in school - just bludging, not caring, but it really got me back in to it. It helped with talking with other people and discussing ideas and just being more out there and asking questions."

Another student, Alaaddin, says "I've made a fair few friends, like a lot of people I never used to talk to, doing the gardening with them I started speaking to them - they opened up to me and I opened up to them. It built my confidence and their confidence and brought a lot of friends into my life."

Dan Deighton runs the engagement program in the garden which helps students who find a conventional classroom setting challenging. "The kids are transforming the land and the land is transforming the kids so what I see is that the students, every time they're out here, there's opportunities for them to learn and to transform. They get experiences that help them transform. The garden's helped them transform and then when they go back in the classroom, they're feeling better because they've gone out and done something physical."

There are also plenty of academic skills to learn from gardening. Jade, a student, tells Costa "We're measuring how the trees grow over time through the climate of being hot and cold and it being moist and dry and we're just seeing how the trees cope and how they grow."

"I think it teaches each student as well as the staff, to value the environment - it's put an emphasis on that. It's also taught us what we can do at home and teach other people," says Tereza.

"I've just got to measure how many animals I see in the area - especially around here, I see a lot of spiders and stuff," says Rebecca.

Adds Steve, "And I really like the chickens. They're one of my favourite poultry. They're great for the weeds. They're good for fertiliser. They're also good for eating but I won't do that!"

Headmaster Stephen concludes, " What we really like is part of this program is not just for learning inside the school but the fact we are going to have students that are going to be better members of society because they understand more deeply the future for our environment and the part they can play in it."