Bishop Donald Sproxton and St Helena’s Catholic primary school parish priest, Fr Francis Nguyen visited the school in Ellenbrook to help staff, families, parents and pupils lay a new garden bed at a Saturday morning busy bee on 23 October.
The garden initiative at the school comes from the Year 3 Classroom Teacher and Society and Environment Coordinator, Gen Felon.
St Helena’s Catholic Primary in Ellenbrook is a Waste Wise School and part of the Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative.
Through the Waste Wise WA, Ms Fenlon obtained a small grant for the school and then the support from the school’s P&F Association to cover the extra costs involved.
To augment this, the members of the school community threw their support behind the initiative and donated fruit trees, small plants and seedlings as well as their time and strength at the busy bee.
Ms Fenlon said the garden was important for the pupils as it would help them learn “basic ecological principles first-hand”.
She also said it would spark the children’s “natural curiosity and creativity” as learners and help them “experience the many joys of nature and make connections between Religious Education, Science, Society and Environment, Mathematics and English”.
St Helena’s Principal, Roger Saulsman, said that the development of a school garden which contains a compost system and worm farm was an “obvious” and “natural extension” to what the school is currently doing to reduce energy and water usage as well as to produce less waste.
The first stage of installation involved laying the initial foundation for the garden.
This meant clearing the site, fencing off the area, installing the reticulation pipes for the garden beds and fruit trees, laying down weed matting and compacting the crushed gravel walking areas for around the raised garden beds.
Ms Fenlon planned the garden in such a way as to ensure the garden belongs to the whole school community, to optimise the benefits of the garden.
She said she hopes to “integrate the garden into the school community” and weave the learning benefits of the garden through all levels of the curriculum.
“Teaching the children how to live in a more sustainable way is one of the most important lessons we can offer them for the future. In this way, the flow-on effect will go beyond the school fence,” she told The Record.
Although these primary school children will not be old enough to attend World Youth Day in Madrid 2011, the theme for next year’s gathering uses the analogy of a garden.
The theme comes from Paul’s letter to the Colossians 2:7 “Planted and Built Up in Jesus Christ, Firm in the Faith”.