Girls' Prep Sensory Garden

March 24, 2022 | Girls’ Preparatory | Author: Pauline Dickson, St Stithians College Gardener

How the Girls Prep Sensory Garden came about...in the words of Pauline Dickson

A beautiful timber deck was installed behind the Girls' Prep Grade 3 block, overlooking the DNT carpark and the fields. This is a beautiful spot under indigenous trees which were planted 20 years ago, which have been pruned recently, and perfectly situated to encourage outdoor environmental education. As I have been involved with this program and have given some lectures such as Exotics vs Indigenous, etc, on the deck, it became evident that the students were thirsty for more outdoor knowledge. I was given a brief by the Girls' Prep Head, Dr Mel Drake, to cover the deck drains and to do something pretty. We felt that school gardens need to have a function – not to just be pretty.  The deck is where a lot of learning can take place with or without the help of a teacher and can be used as a tool for most subjects.

Inspiration - English poetry, creative writing or even a place to sit and read a book, or to just sit and contemplate.

Natural science – the girls get to study the plants and see how they grow, and learn more about plant uses, example - medicinal values etc.

Life Orientation – they learn how to grow herbs and take care of them.

The beauty of the installation has already captured the attention of so many of the girls, and exciting questions have been asked.

I look forward to giving lessons to the students as well as the teachers, on how to use this garden space, in order to explore all its sensory treasures.

#PurposeInspired #PassionDriven #InspiringExcellence #MakingAWorldOfDifference #StrongerOneAndAll