A student-built garden has earned Cornish College an award.
The Bangholme school took home the South Eastern Metropolitan region award for P-9, P-12 and secondary schools at the Victorian Schools Garden Awards (VSGA) on 30 October.
Its Indigenous Plant Trail is now in the running for the Most Engaging Student Garden for Teaching category at the state awards, to be announced at Melbourne’s Royal Botanical Gardens on Tuesday 29 November.
Year 1 students created the trail in 2014 as part of the school’s Make a Difference Week, to educate themselves and others about Indigenous people and their culture.
It includes 16 plants and weaves around the school property.
“With our emphasis on sustainability, we used existing plants rather than new ones and no pathways were built to create the trail,” a school spokeswoman said.
“The Indigenous Plant Trail is regularly used to engage and educate students.
“Our Year 1 classes visit sections of the trail most weeks as part of Dhumba-dha biik – a weekly program where students form strong connections to their land.”
The VSGA committee spent the school holidays and start of term four judging more than 100 entries from schools across Victoria.
The judges found that classes were being taken outdoors and students were learning science, maths, history, art and language from hands-on activities.
“Gardens are now being seen as an important element of school education,” a VSGA statement announcing the regional winners said.
“The committee applauds the efforts of schools who are expanding their grounds from basic produce gardens to include swales, wetlands, acquaponics, compost and worm farms, animal husbandry and more.”
Paul Crowe and the late Kevin Heinze established the VSGA in 1977 to recognise new and existing gardens and reward students and school communities.
