.webp)
John Colet School’s kitchen garden has won a national award, coming first in the ‘Down to Earth’ category of the National Kitchen Garden Awards. Judged by Alice Zaslavsky, Stephanie Alexander, Thanh Truong, and Clarence Slockee, our entry demonstrated how our students get their hands dirty, nurturing the soils that nourish our kitchen garden. Our entry highlighted the magical power of worms in our garden, explained how our students learn the benefits of organic nutrients, and how boosting soil health can yield amazing results.
The runners-up in this category were Great Southern Grammar in WA and Lanyon High School in ACT.
John Colet School’s garden club teacher, Laurie Green, first had the vision to develop the kitchen garden space just over two years ago.
“What was once an untended and overlooked corner of our school has been transformed into a vibrant teaching garden. Today, it produces organic herbs, salad greens, and vegetables that supply our vegetarian kitchen, which serves a sit-down lunch to more than 300 students and staff each day. This remarkable transformation is thanks to Laurie’s vision, expertise, and her deep commitment to connecting students with meaningful, hands-on learning experiences,” said Headmaster Julian Wilcock.
“The garden, in combination with the kitchen, demonstrates a circular food system where plants are grown from seed, eaten by children for lunch, and then composted on site to perpetuate the cycle,” said Mrs Green.
“This is a unique and valuable experience in an urban learning environment, one that I’m grateful to be a part of. It’s truly heartening to see the school and parent community’s support of this program celebrated with this award," she said.
The National Kitchen Garden Awards attracted more than 500 incredible entries from schools and early learning centres around Australia. Our prize includes more than $4000 in products, including a $1000 grant to improve kitchen and garden infrastructure and resources for teachers, our library, kitchen, and garden.
Congratulations John Colet School, and a special acknowledgment to garden club teacher Laurie Green, whose vision and dedication turned a forgotten corner into an award-winning kitchen garden.
John Colet School
6 Wyatt Ave, Belrose NSW 2085
(02) 9451 8395
www.johncolet.nsw.edu.au
