West Park Garden, Orchard and Environment

The Aims

To integrate the current resources of the vegetable garden, the orchard and the wider school environment into the current school curriculum.

We have these valuable resources to use as practical, hands on teaching aids to enhance and inspire students in all areas of the curriculum.

The gardens can be used on a regular basis in all areas of teaching to provide working aids in a visual and tactile manner with the aim to create environmental awareness, empathy and respect for the environment.

In addition, students will gain a working knowledge of the whole cycle of recycling waste food and paper to the compost, from compost to the garden and garden to the mouth.

Ideally we aim to create a zero waste school in time, reusing and recycling all available resources.

What we’ve achieved to date

The vegetable garden

The orchard

Composting/recycling

Weekly Environmental Awareness programme. (WEAP)

• Up to an hour every week is set aside for integrating the garden into your programme.

Garden Leaders week (GLW)

• Where each class has a full week immersion in the garden (approximately one week per class per term).

• Our earth is reaching a crisis stage where environmental care is crucial for the continuation of life

• Education is paramount, and I believe children need to be impassioned and excited about our living world

• Respect for the earth which leads to respect for themselves and for all living beings

• Personal responsibilities as well as realizing all living things are interconnected – looking at the whole, not just the parts

• Environmental programs can stimulate children’s interests in the world around them as well as develop conservation habits that will continue through their lives and those of their families.

•• Graduated from Massey University 26 years ago with a BSc in zoology and Bachelor of Veterinary science

•• Always been fascinated with science and the environment

•• Travelled widely

•• Own veterinary practice for 11 years in Wellington

•• Holistic approach to vet work, especially nutritional therapy

•• Media work

•Own garden and a parent – time to develop these interests

Proposed environmental studies programmes

1. Weekly Environmental awareness Programme.

Basic outline

• Based on an hour or so each week for each class.

• Ideally teachers choose the most useful time slot for their class but making sure no other classes are on for that particular hour.

• The aim is to allocate a REGULAR specific time for environmental studies using the garden, orchard and surrounding vegetation and natural resources as live teaching tools and demonstration models.

• The students need to touch/actively engage/learn practical and hands on skills in this time to see, smell, touch and taste the environment, not just sit and listen to someone talking.

• There are a number of possible topics each term that can be used to base the time around, these are seasonal and weather dependent and can be posted at the beginning of each term.

Compulsory tasks each week

• Each session can start with that class’s routine garden “jobs” such as planting seeds, caring for seedlings or planting out the seedlings. (Estimate approx. 15-20 minutes).

• If there is no garden contact in this initial stage then the next 15 minutes or so are out in the vege garden catching up on what has grown that week, what has changed and what is about to happen. (Refer to the whiteboard by the garden as to “what’s on this week in the garden”.)

• The final ½ hour or so can be devoted to the “topic” for that week. Suggestions would be listed at the beginning of each term. Alternatively, there could be integration with the syllabus via maths, literacy, science, art, social studies or technology, see suggestions in the next section.

• Other suggestions are for parents or guest speakers to come in and give a talk on a garden related skill or environmental issue, take a salad bowl out and pick a salad from the garden and eat it, time with the digital microscopes etc.

Suggestions for topics

• Recycling – reduce, reuse, recycle

• Compost

• Raising seeds

• Care of seedlings

• Soil science

• Watering and weeding,

• Insects

• Eating veges and healthy food

• Get them eating straight from the garden!!!!

The Week Before

The ‘Week Before’ folder will be put in teacher’s pigeon hole on Monday. It contains:

Notice to parents,

Curriculum related garden/environment activities.

Teacher decides on 1½ hour slot for ‘Garden Time.’

Teacher sends out notice to all parents (copy can be found on Staff Public or on a hard copy?)

Class and/or teacher chooses some garden/environment activity/ies that link into curriculum.

The Week for Garden Leaders

The ‘Garden Leaders’ folder will be put in teacher’s pigeon hole on the Monday. It contains:

•List of compulsory tasks,

•‘Garden Book’ for class/teacher to write their observations in.

Compulsory Tasks:

•1 ½ hour garden time,

•Rubbish collection on minimum of three days,

•Emptying compost bins after lunch for the whole school,

•Checking garden/orchard for damage and produce that could be harvested,

•Write a couple of lines for School notice about the school garden.

Garden Book

This can be used to record:

•What the class did,

•What was harvested,

•What was observed,

•How many parents came to their ‘Garden Time’ etc.

• Basically; anything related to the garden/environment is recorded.

The Next Steps

• 2x term projects for example:

• Design the watering system

• Design and build a pizza oven

• Design and build waharoa at garden entrance

• Parent meeting

• Mayor to open garden at parent picnic

• Children to plan the opening

• Garden to Table programme - the West Park way!

• Harvest festival

• Design the compost area etc..

Waharoa

Waharoa

• This stunning waharoa that marks the entrance to the main part of Otari School in Wilton. I would like to oversee the construction of a waharoa for our school. It would be placed at the entrance to the vegetable garden, straddling the pathway between rooms 4 and 14. The waharoa would reflect our school, our community and history; as well as our vision.

• I would like to open up the design to our students and community and build it in term four as part of the GATE – Sustainability programme. It would be constructed in sustainable materials (macrocarpa and recycled timbers) and painted with eco-friendly paints. By this time the garden will be in its full spring flush and the students will be actively involved in its (the garden) upkeep.

Possible themes for our waharoa could be:

• West Park students’ ethnicity and cultural backgrounds

• Our history

• Our future

• Our school’s values.

The waharoa itself will become a source of pride for the school community and its siting in our new vegetable garden can symbolize a sustainable vision.

• E Daubé August 2009