‘Many things grow in the garden that were never sown there'
Thomas Fuller.
Gardens are powerful educational tools, providing opportunities for children to experience the natural world as they develop academic skills and gain first-hand knowledge that leads to healthy and sustainable lifestyles. Students who participate in gardening programs grow in other ways too: they develop positive attitudes and behaviours that enhance the quality of their lives. They learn important sociological skills such as cooperation, tolerance, appreciation for similarities and differences, and a global understanding of diverse cultures.
The HUG Project is an outdoor 'hands on' gardening project. The garden is an initiative designed to combine learning outcomes, positive behaviour for learning and social skills development. ‘Helping Us Grow' is the name chosen for the project, as it enhances the culture of our school and provides positive experiences for every student. Growing students' knowledge, ownership, commitment and responsibility as members of a community, and as future consumers and leaders.
Students have been recently growing and consuming a wide variety of vegetables, including cabbages, lettuce, tomatoes, beetroot, spinach, zucchini, capsicum, corn, pumpkin, strawberries, eggplant and radish.