The Living Classroom Program
The Living Classroom is a classroom in the garden. It is a living environment based on Permaculture Design systems that balance food production, biodiversity and sustainable natural resource management. It is an interactive environment that integrates natural resources into the garden including; harvesting and reusing rainwater and processing our school's organic wastes into compost to build soil fertility and sustain garden productivity.
The Garden Ambassador program aims to develop student leaders through the establishment and maintenance of the Living Classroom. These students will be the ‘change agents’ in developing a positive school culture that takes responsibility for themselves, each other and the physical environment.
The Garden Ambassadors learn Permaculture strategies and apply the Permaculture practices to maintain and develop the Living Classroom. These practices include: seasonal planning, soil building, efficient water use, planting, plant propagation, composting, pruning, weeding, mulching, harvesting and storage of produce, seed saving and constructing garden structures.
The Living Classroom is the context for developing independent and responsible student learning. Whilst changing with the seasons, the Living Classroom is the setting for a deeper social and cultural change created and maintained by the Garden Ambassadors through a journey from Kindergarten to Year 6.