Kitchen garden program continues at Woy Woy

Students in Years 3 to 6 at Woy Woy Public School will continue its kitchen garden program this year.

"Our school has been involved in the program for over four years," said principal Ms Ona Buckley.

"Through the kitchen garden program, children learn positive food habits for life, about their natural environment, the seasons, and how to care for gardens, practical skills, from recycling, composting and preserving to budgeting and fundraising, life skills, such as cooperating, sharing, critical thinking and leadership and get to feel engaged, especially those who face barriers learning in the traditional classroom environment all while having fun," Ms Buckley said.

"The program links to the curriculum and forms a big part of the school environmental education and sustainability focus.

"There are countless opportunities for embedding pleasurable food education into the curriculum.

"Kitchen garden learning can be integrated with learning requirements, from measuring garden areas and perimeters in mathematics to exploring seed growth in science, developing procedural text through recipes and sharing cultures through menus and celebrations.

"The kitchen garden program also supports wellbeing programs, cross-age tutoring between students, inquiry learning, project- or problem-based learning and interdisciplinary approaches," Ms Buckley said.

"Students in Years 3-6 love the program and it provides them with skills for lifelong healthy eating and living.

"This year we have Lina Williamson (kitchen) and Pete Smith (garden) running the program for our students," Ms Buckley said.

SOURCE:

Newsletter, 22 Feb 2019

Ona Buckley, Woy Woy Public School