Victorian Schools
Garden Awards
Parktone Primary School
Parktone Primary School opened in 1961 and is
situated in a quiet residential street in Parkdale in the
City of Kingston. Enrolments were steady until 1999
but due to unfortunate circumstances student
numbers dropped significantly and
Parktone became neglected (including the upkeep of
the grounds and all gardens which were non-existent).
Numbers fell as low as 140 and the school was in
danger of closing. In 2008 a new Principal (Mr George
Danson) arrived at Parktone and with a lot of hard
work and his boundless energy and passion, together
with that of parents, teachers, grandparents and
students wehave transformed Parktone into a school
to be proud of. Enrolments have increased rapidly
since this time and now stand at 480.
Parktone Primary is an innovative school with a
positive energy. Education Department representatives
have also visited and expressed their excitement and
congratulations as we have created and celebrated
significant milestones. Together we are achieving our
goals. Together we can stand tall and be proud.
In 2010 the school community celebrated the biggest
refurbishment in the school’s history transforming
traditional classrooms into 21st century global learning
centres creating new and highly stimulating learning
spaces and together we have worked on the
development of beautiful gardens and maintaining
well-kept grounds to complement these and help give
the school a sense of pride.
Our vision – There is a prosperous path for every child.
Each path is theirs to lead. There is a place in which
every child can shine.
Our Mission – Identify the talent, develop the
confidence and create the leader.
Our Motto – Always Moving Forward.
The Parktone Primary School also embraces a
partnership with Franklin Covey to implement a
Leadership program within the school community. The
Leader in provides students with an opportunity to
develop their leadership skills by using the 7 Habits.
This year we achieved Leader in Me Lighthouse status.
We are the first public school in Australia to receive
this honour.
general appearance and
use
The school is set on a spacious and attractive 2.5hectare site bordered by residential housing.
Our grounds and gardens comprise a large oval
surrounded by mature native trees, extensive garden
beds bordering the buildings and fronting the school
entrances (on Robert St and McSwain St), a productive
vegetable garden, an ‘environmental garden’ and
plenty of open play space.
New gardens have been created all around the school
over the last few years. It is a challenging job as
Parkdale has very sandy dry soil. A lot of preparation
was necessary before any planting could be
undertaken. Compost was dug into the soil along with
water saving crystals and fertilizer.
Careful consideration has been given to the choice of
plants. Our gardening guru Lesley Fyffe (a grandparent
at the school), has picked plants that are attractive,
low maintenance and drought tolerant. Newspaper
and some weed matting has been used to suppress the
weeds and beds have been finished off with mulch,
bark or sugar cane straw.
Recent works on the grounds have involved extensive
mulching in an attempt to reduce erosion, evaporation
and encourage plant growth, which was facilitated by a
key local stakeholder Kingston Council, that assisted by
connecting the school with City Wide.
Parktone Primary School is deserving of a VSG award
as the students, parents and teachers have put so
much time and effort into creating new gardens to
beautify our school and to teach our children valuable
lessons of sustainability and environment and to also
develop attitudes towards the environmental future of
our planet.. The Before & After photos are a clear
demonstration of this hard work.
Some of the gardens are still a work in progress with
lots of ideas and projects still to be put into action – all
for the benefit of our present students and those who
will attend in the years ahead..
Transforming our school grounds
Before and After – the transformation of our school
From this....
to this....
Front Entrance – Robert Street
New gardens planted out September 2008
Gardens well established in August 2014
The front of our
school looks
fabulous (including
our yarn-bombed
tree!)
Environmental Garden
This was an unused area of the school where the underground water tanks are located. It has now become a beautiful
play space full of maturing native shrubs.
Before planting - January 2009
12 April 2009
And now......wow!
Parent, Teacher & Community Involvement
•
The Buildings and Grounds Sub-Committee of the School Council maintains the school gardens and grounds.
This committee is comprised of teachers, school staff, parents and grandparents.
•
Local Sporting clubs (football, cricket and netball) use school grounds for training and match playing
•
School grounds are open to all of the school community and the local community to use on weekends and
after school
•
Government funded Active After School program run sporting clinics after school hours
•
School Canteen runs recycling programs
•
Professional Development for the whole staff on Sustainability
•
Working Bees
Lessons Out on the Green!
Teachers across the school use the gardens and outdoor space in
their lesson plans. In the warmer months teaching also can take
place in the gardens. We have created shaded seating areas
conducive to smaller learning groups. The school grounds also
form an important backdrop to scenes in our school movie
production.
“I have used the gardens to
collect and sort leaves with
Preps and find 2D Shapes in
the playground”.
Maths
Grade 2: Miss L Wapling
“For sustainability we look around at things that
grow such as the vegetable plants in the veggie
patch. We talk about different veggies growing at
different times of year. We also use outside green
zones for a games like ‘Shapes Around the
Grounds’ Where children had to run to the shape I
called.”
Sustainability, 2013
Grade 1 Miss L Campbell
“We use the whole school gardens for various science
lessons. From erosion, to food chains and plant
growing. The students love the hands on experience.
They enjoyed searching for various animal life in the
environmental garden, to planting and watching seeds
growing. They’ve also helped find solutions to the
erosion around the school gardens. We have also
started a worm farm which we feed them with our left
over food.”
Science:
Ms A Ziogos
“Students searched the school
grounds to experiment with texture
rubbings to then create some paper
sculpture using the theme of Crazy
Critters.”
Visual Art:
Mrs L Poulter
Working Bees
Every couple of months the school has a working
bee organised by the Buildings and Grounds SubCommittee of the School Council.
We are so lucky in our school community to have
so many parents, teachers, grandparents and
students who attend and are willing to help with
keeping the school looking great.
As well as gardening (planting, weeding pruning
etc) there are always many jobs including
painting, repairs, general maintenance, cleaning
etc to be done. We are all very proud of our
school and keen to pitch in.
Many hands make light work
Hard work is rewarded with a
sausage sizzle!
Special Features - Murals
This mural of an aeroplane was painted by students a few years ago – the plane was originally chosen because
Parktone is near Moorabbin Airport. A garden has been planted out in front of the mural – we call this ‘Our
Garden on the Runway’
The newest mural is the renovation of the stage mural this year.
These murals are a visual
representation of the Leader In Me
programme - an integral part of the
school’s teaching philosophy based on
Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits. This mural
was renovated and recreated by
students and staff this year.
Recent Developments and special features
This playground was donated by parents in July 2015. It is
a colourful and inviting area for students to play in. The
playground will be included in our proposed sustainability
area.
Sandpit – built at a
working bee in 2013
The Friendship bench was
produced and donated by
a family in August 2015.
The sign was produced by
teaching staff and
students.
This bench is for students
who need a friend to play
with at recess or lunch. Sit
on it and a friend will
come and find you!
Current Project
Our Vegetable Garden
Our vegetable garden was created in 2013 on the site of an old sandpit that
had fallen into disrepair. The school community has established a large
fenced area containing raised beds.
Due to the expansion of the school
the vegetable garden has been
relocated to another part of our
school grounds.
We are now again in the planning
stages of getting the area up and
running and hope to use the VSG
Award to help complete the garden
and commence the Stephanie
Alexander Kitchen Garden program
in 2016.
Recently we had a parent come
and donate his time to start
wicking beds in 2 of our donated
Bunning's garden beds. Students
from Prep – 6 and staff all enjoyed
helping in the process.
Our kitchen garden in 2013
Garden Plan
What parktone would use the grant for…
We have the planter boxes
We have the knowledge
We are ready to go
We have the staff enthusiasm
Compost
Compost Bins x 2
buckets for each class
430
260
Watering
Garden Hose
Timer Drip Watering Kit
watering cans x 10
Water Wand
40
350
60
20
Tools
Rakes small
Spade small
Gloves medium
Gloves small
Garden Spade
Garden Forks
Racks for Shed
Pavers for Shed bases
Outdoor Seating
Outdoor table
Storage
Misc
80
80
60
40
80
130
Wheel Barrow x 2
Bamboo Stakes
Signage
String
PH Soil tester
Fence around garden area
Mulch
Storgae Tubs
Resources
Camera
Plumbing for taps
Misc
Plants
180
300
500
200
Seed growing trays
Seedlings
Seeds
Worm Farm Worms
Blankets
190
25
200
50
50
3000
200
50
1000
250
2000
300
40
200
100
55
10
TOTAL $10,530