Through learning for sustainability, students had a desire to learn how grow their own produce at school. They connected with members of the local community who were kind enough to give up their time to visit the school and give talks on gardening, how to grow fruit and vegetables, and the importance of looking after the soil. These sessions are now a regular fixture at the school.

Students decided they wanted to plant an orchard where they could grow apples, pears, nectarines, peach, feijoa and cherries. They developed a plan for the orchard, working hard to ensure that the trees were positioned in the right spots to allow them to thrive. Once the trees arrived, the community was invited to help plant the fruit trees and teach students about how to care for them including showing they how to mulch. They planted 19 new fruit trees into the orchard area.

The students are excited for these to grow and start producing fruit for the school and local community, while also creating a new space for learning more about biodiversity and food chains.

The students have felt empowered in making decisions around the different fruit trees to plant and where and the learnings they have made will be knowledge they can pass onto the next generation.