Esteemed in history, Moorabbin Primary School No. 1111 dating back to 1875 was  announced as the recipient of the 2016 Kevin Heinze Perpetual Award for school garden excellence at the Victorian Schools Garden Awards (VSGA) ceremony.

Moorabbin’s grounds, once a barren underutilised facility has been transformed into an indigenous habitat, with frog friendly gardens, productive zones, fruit orchards and a chicken coup, changing their outdoor spaces into stimulating learning opportunities for the 245 students who attend the school and partake in weekly sustainability classes.

Over 300 students attended the VSGA Presentation Ceremony held in the beautiful and ideal surrounds of the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne to celebrate their gardening achievements. In excess of $40,000 worth of prizes was distributed amongst the winning schools to continue the growth of their gardens.

Ms Judith Graley MP, Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister of Education, presented the state and perpetual awards along with Paul Crowe OAM, VSGA patron and co-founder.

The VSGA program which will celebrate its 40^th anniversary next year has a long history of encouraging schools to consider their outdoor spaces as an important facet for learning, acting as  classrooms for hands on education while improving student health and well-being. It also acts as a vehicle for getting children involved in gardening and creates awareness of future employment opportunities in horticulture and environmental industries.

“We would love 2017 to be even bigger”, explains VSGA Chairman Craig Taberner, “I encourage all schools to get involved – it is simple, apply for a grant or enter for an award”.

Click here for 2016 VSGA Award Winners

This is an exciting time of year as the  Victorian  Schools Garden Awards (VSGA)  judge all submissions, and announce the winners of our Regional Awards as we head towards our official Presentation Ceremony on 29 November at the Royal Botanical Gardens Melbourne. With entries closing just before the end of Term 3, the VSGA  Committee  spent the school holidays and start of term 4 judging over 100 entries from schools across Victoria for all awards on offer.

As always the committee were impressed with the quality of entries and work schools are undertaking in their school grounds. Gardens are now being seen as an important element of school education. The committee applauds the efforts of schools who are expanding their grounds from basic produce gardens to include swales, wetlands, acquaponics, compost and worm farms, animal husbandry and more.  Classes are being taken outdoors and students are learning science, maths, history, art and language from hands on activities.

It is never an easy task selecting winners. We appreciate the amount of time and effort students, teachers and parents put into your gardens and lodging an award entry, and we do wish we could reward all schools.

Those schools that were unsuccessful this year are encouraged to  try again next year.  It may be only a matter of a few points that separates you from ultimate success under the VSGA program.

Click here for 2016 Regional Award Results

The 2016 VSGA grant applications are now open.  With a variety of categories to choose, schools may apply for more than one grant category but separate applications will be required and one grant per school will be awarded.

The procedure to apply for a grant is simple.  Complete the online 2016 Grant Application Form entering your school’s details and answering the five questions including a budget. You will need to create a login which allows you to save your grant application and return to it at a later date or submit your form upon completion. You will then receive confirmation that your Grant application has been received.

The Grants program has over $32,000 worth of grants to distribute to schools.   The grants come in the form of a voucher to be redeemed at a retail nursery which is a member of the Nursery & Garden Industry of Victoria (NGIV).

Wooragee Primary School is the recipient of the 2015 Kevin Heinze Perpetual Award for school garden excellence.

The late Kevin Heinze was the face of gardening in Victoria for many years, as host of his popular “Sow What” program. Now in its 38^th year the Victorian Schools Garden Awards (VSGA) are a direct legacy of Mr Heinze, and in 2015 the program distributed in excess of $40,000 in awards to winning schools. Wooragee Primary School is a tiny school doing amazing things.

With just 13 students the school has a garden class every week led by their 85 year old head gardener. They have a kitchen program where students learn the art of cooking and preserving the produce they’ve grown. The Award caps off an amazing year for the regional school located near beautiful Beechworth in North East Victoria who are renowned for being an environmentally friendly school.

Over 350 school children attended the Awards ceremony held at Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens, on a day where Melbourne showed all four seasons in one but nothing could damped the spirits of the representing schools from all over Victoria, who had successfully navigated through rounds of judging in the various categories.

Through their enthusiasm and participation, 125 Victorian schools entered, reflecting the increased importance placed on the development of school gardens as teaching resources, and the value of green-space in creating healthy surroundings, conductive to learning and life.

Chris Keating from the Victorian Department of Education and Training presented the State Awards and Kevin Heinze Perpetual Award alongside Paul Crowe OAM, VSGA Patron and co-founder of the program.

For Award results, click here 2015 VSGA Award Winners