Winters Flat
Primary School

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The Winters Flat Primary School community is working on a special project involving the construction of a Community Eco-Garden at the school.

The project will see the development of a huge garden complex covering around a quarter of an acre and featuring an orchard of fruit and nut trees, an outdoor classroom with a water feature in the centre, two frog ponds and vegetable, herb and flower beds.

The garden will provide plenty of room for all grades at the school to be able to tend their own plants. The plans also include a shade house/potting shed, rain water tanks, a grey water system and the establishment of a compost system, worm farm and chicken run - an element of the project the children are extremely excited about.

The garden and orchard are also aimed to contain various exotic fruits to expand the taste horizons of the children.

The idea was initiated by parent and local minister Rev Gordon Bannon - who had the privilege of being involved in a similar project 'Cultivating Community' at Collingwood in Melbourne.

Initial discussions about the project began in September 2002, with all students at the school invited to draw their own design. A design for the garden was then created by local Garden Designer, Kevin Walsh, taking into consideration the many ideas generated by the students.

One section of the garden features the shape of a star - in line with one of the student's suggestions, while many of the pictures by the children contained a water feature - so this element was also included.

The site was levelled in January 2003 and works commenced.

Winters Flat Principal, Kevin Brown, says that the school is very excited about the project which will greatly improve an area of the school which was quite shabby and in need of enhancement. The project is still in the early stages and will take several years to develop.

There are plans to include an Adobe Woodfired Pizza Oven - where children can do outdoor cooking.

The school is very grateful to have received support from groups within the community such as Pioneer, which donated concrete for the project, and individuals who have given up their time to assist.