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Learning to live sustainably through gardening Junior School students have the chance to learn about the world around them through the Friday Garden Club. Started in 2017 by school gardener Sara Bishop, the Garden Club allows Year 4–6 students to get involved in every part of a plant’s growing process. Children sow seeds at the beginning of the season then water, weed, mulch and feed their plants and then watch themgrow. They also help look after a worm farm and compost bins and use all the worm castings, worm tea and compost in their gardens. As well as gardening, the club gives an opportunity for the students to meet and get to know Senior School students, who help out for the CAS component of their IB Diploma. “Senior students have been helping out with the activities, which is good because it gives the Juniors the chance to do more hands-on work,” Sara says. “Eventually the Seniors will be planning their own activities.” Year 4 student Phoenix Gasking says she enjoys learning more about plant species. “We have been labelling our plants, recently, so I have been our learning about the different names of plants and what they look like,” she says. Maria Fascione and Avani Patel tend to their garden. LIVE Year 6 student Veronica Pearce got involved in the Garden Club because she thought it sounded fun. “It’s really fun to learn about the different flowers and their names. I also really love going outside and getting messy in the soil,” Veronica explains. At the end of March, students were tending to their autumn planter boxes, which featured marigolds, beetroot and spinach. Once the plants have grown, children will be able to take their vegetables home to share with their families. 41 Queen Margaret Calling :: ISSUE 63 :: May 2019