Warrnambool East Primary School is a member of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program. The purpose of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation is to introduce pleasurable food education to children during their learning years, in order to form positive food habits for life.

Our Kitchen Garden Program is aligned with our 3/4 learning community. Each class participates for a duration of six weeks with an inquiry focus of ‘How does an edible garden contribute to a healthy lifestyle?’ The students spend the first five weeks participating in hands-on learning gardening sessions where they learn about planting seedlings and seeds, watering, fertilizing, maintenance, pest control, and harvesting.

During the sixth week, students participate in a kitchen cooking session in which they work collaboratively to prepare a range of meals from their harvested produce. The result is a ‘Shared Table’ in which the students, teachers, and volunteer parents, grandparents, and friends sit down and enjoy a meal together that they have prepared.