Kitchen Gardens Program

Kitchen Gardens Program 2022

Observatory Hill EEC is conducting a school Kitchen Gardens Program in 2022. This program involves students being engaged in one-hour cooking and gardening lessons each week for up to four classes per day. The program is designed for students to achieve educational, wellbeing and sustainability outcomes through curriculum embedded, cross KLA lesson sequences. The Kitchen Gardens program teaches a range of life skills, supports critical thinking, communication, problem solving and teamwork skills. It is also an excellent program for school promotions around healthy eating, sustainability and outdoor learning.

A website to support teachers in their Kitchen Gardens has been created and can be found here.

Targeted Regions

Expressions of interest are sought from targeted Sydney Metropolitan South Region schools to participate including:

Canterbury
Georges River
Kogarah
Marrickville
Beverly Hills
Bondi
Botany Bay
Iron Cove
Port Jackson

Program Information

The program was developed by Penrith Lakes EEC and has worked successfully in that region for several years with very positive evaluation results from Principals, teachers and students involved. School communities value the program for it for it's wellbeing benefits, outdoor learning opportunities (particularly important in the age of Covid-19) and curriculum linked content.

The program will be run by a specialist, NESA accredited teacher, usually for one day a week per school. The appointed school Kitchen Garden Teacher would coordinate the program for all stages including gardening set up, garden maintenance and cooking in the classroom. Up to 4 classes per day would be involved.

Cost

The cost is $24,000 per year for the employment of one dedicated Kitchen gardens teacher per school for one day. Additional funds may be required for maintenance and set up of gardens depending on your school’s situation. Schools will receive support to apply for a NSW DoE Sustainable Schools Grant up to $15,000, which if successful, could partially offset the cost of the program.

Expressions of interest

Please reply indicating your interest in being part of this program to: