Vision

We are looking to add more nature-based learning to our school site and include more opportunities for students to learn from play in nature. Learning in and from the more-than-human world has great benefits for students, their learning about who they are and where they live, and their overall well-being.

Action

We built a nature classroom outside our Kindergarten/Grade 1 classroom. This included new garden beds to grow food, a mud kitchen, fencing, rocks and a log, and a table to ‘eat’ mud creations at. We planted food as well as plants that are native to the area in and around the play space. Connecting our young learners to the more-than-human world and introducing them to land-based learning grows people who in turn care about our planet. We want our students to know about where food comes from and instil food security and sovereignty in our learners through engaging them in growing food, saving seeds and witnessing the life cycle by experiencing seed-to-plate activities at school. We also want them to know about the Indigenous communities that have lived on this land for time immemorial and the plants that are sacred to their culture. We have worked with our Indigenous education team to learn about Traditional Ecological Knowledge and what to plant with this in consideration. Decolonizing our learning plays an important part in our sustainability plan.
We had the entire school and parent community involved in the building project through donations, drop offs, elbow grease in building, and more. We did a giant all-school work party where a number of community members came to help our students dig holes, build the kitchen and plant seeds. It was an important rebuild for our community post-COVID as it was the first time many families had been back on school grounds for an event.

Reflection & Celebration

Children and families have been thrilled to see the progress. Students are playing in the area daily. In early June we will be hosting a community event and will showcase this area to visitors. We will continue to naturalize the area and plant native plants and a medicinal garden.