Artarmon Public School grounds include plenty of large trees, a covered outdoor leisure area (COLA), and some established gardens.
The Kindergarten playground has a playing surface of artificial turf too. We often rake the leaves and bark off the fake grass.
There are currently 3 veggie gardens within the school which grow a variety of veggies throughout the years, some of which are harvested for the canteen, for gardening volunteers, and most importantly for the children and families to learn where food comes from and experience gardening.
The school is participating in the ‘Ready, Set, Grow' program run by Willoughby City Council, which focuses on composting and veggie gardening involving the students with linkages to the curriculum. Many children have been watering the veggie gardens, and some classes and the canteen are involved in composting food scraps.
The school grounds are ever-changing, so the gardening committee strives to support that change and make best use of the grounds.
New multicultural garden
Our school now has a wonderful multicultural garden. This is thanks to a donation from Toyota and a fun day of gardening by students assisted by parents and teachers.
The garden not only looks fantastic, but it is growing plants to represent every continent in the world. It will no doubt create a lot of discussion about different countries and continents in the world, as well as interest in gardening.
Gardening activities include
- planting in veggie gardens
- fertilising and mulching garden beds
- tidying for the school events like the twilight markets and fete.
- gardening bees
- gardening stall selling plants at the fete
- increasing the composting/worm farming to collect more crunch and sip scraps
- planting in garden beds to beautify the grounds
