A fresh idea is helping schools across Melbourne’s west connect. In Melton, where rapid growth has seen several new schools open, Jess Law – a Health Promoter at Western Health – found a way to bring school leaders together through a school garden network.
“With schools, creating kitchen gardens helps to educate kids on growing and cooking their own nutritious food,” Mrs Law said.
The school kitchen garden network is a space for educators to come together, share ideas and support each other. It includes teachers from primary schools and secondary schools across Melton. With 11 participating schools, some are part of the Vic Kids Eat Well initiative, some use the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program and some are starting their journey to develop a kitchen garden.
“Often there’s only one kitchen garden teacher in a school. They don’t always have someone to bounce ideas off or ask questions. The network gives them that support,” Mrs Law said.
The network gathers once a term to share practical tips for gardens. Teachers within the network swap stories, share recipes and learn from each other’s successes.
The network supports schools to enhance their healthy food provision by creating opportunities to sustain and grow their kitchen garden programs.
“Some schools give the produce to their school canteen, breakfast club or food tech classes to support healthy food options across the whole school,” she said.
The network also helps schools tap into funding opportunities and explore ways they can link their kitchen garden to the education curriculum.
“We alternate hosting locations. Usually, a session is held at a participating school. This allows members to see how other schools are running their kitchen gardens and take ideas back to implement,” Mrs Law said.
“We’ve also had guest speakers and have even visited our local botanical gardens for inspiration,” she said.
A Vic Kids Eat Well school, Melton Secondary College is a member of Western Health’s school garden network.
Mrs Law said Melton Secondary College initially received a grant from Western Health to install food cube beds. The fresh produce grown is now part of their breakfast club menu, helping the school tick off a ‘breakfast club bite’ (action) as part of Vic Kids Eat Well.
“They’ve now got silverbeet and cheese toasties on the menu. The kids love them,” she said.
Want to get started?
Reach out to your local community health organisation and ask for their health promotion team. They can support your school’s health and wellbeing initiatives, provide resources and connect you to further help.