Sustainability in the primary school

Sustainability

in the primary school

At St Margaret’s, all students are encouraged to develop an environmental stewardship and to foster the necessary knowledge, skills and values so their actions can contribute to more sustainable ways of living. Right from Pre-Prep, our primary students, are nurtured to harness their innate curiosity of the natural world and all its wonder and to develop agency and responsibility in caring for and protecting the environment. One of the ways in which they do this is through tending to Maggies Garden from planting, maintaining and composting through to harvesting and cooking their produce. Students in Prep to Year 4 have collaborated on the Maggies Garden project, assisting with planting vegetables in its new location on the Butler Street side of the primary school. Landscaper Jonathon Weinert of JW Concepts visited the school and shared his knowledge with the girls about soil and the introduction of flowers to vegetable gardens as companion plants. However, Maggies Garden offers so much more than just gardening for the students. It also promotes healthy nutrition and the girls have reaped the fruits of their labour sharing their harvest with families at home or in cooking at school. The students have also learnt about caring for the natural environment and the garden through composting. This sustainable practice, along with recycling, were initiatives led by our Year 6 Sustainability Leaders, Rose Joseph, Coco Fidler and Letitia Watson. Practices such as collecting coffee grounds from Ms Café and using lunch waste to create compost for the garden are just some of the ways they have discovered nature’s own recycling method which in turn has led to a flourishing Maggies Garden. Head of Primary Mrs Angela Drysdale said: “We believe that embedding sustainability into primary learning is fundamental to empowering our students to be environmental change agents, who contribute now and in the future to our world.”