Children at a Werribee school are set to have their own fresh vegetables thanks to council funding.
Wyndham Park Primary School is setting up a new veggie patch on its site after successfully applying for a $5,000 grant from the council’s Healthy Together Wyndham programme.
Named the Kookaburra Kitchen Garden, the plot is being prepared with assistance from local social enterprise Shoestring Gardening.
Once the garden is up and running, poster printing could be used to advertise to pupils which vegetables are available and are being used in their lunches. A newsletter could also be used to keep families in touch with what is happening in the garden throughout the year.
Teachers, students and their families will be able to help grow things in the garden and the produce will be used in the school canteen. Growing vegetables and healthy eating will be included in the curriculum, and each year group will have a turn at being in charge of the plot.
Teacher Jacek Tomaszewski said the garden had originally been set up two years ago, but the new grant would allow the school to use it better and extend the number of beds from 12 to 15 and plant new fruit trees.
He said the school also hoped to run healthy eating workshops, work with the Werribee Heritage Orchard and hold a harvest festival at the end of term.
