The Victorian Schools Garden Awards (VSGA) runs annually across both metropolitan and regional Victoria, it recognises the importance and value of engaging school gardens and outdoor spaces in progressive modern education. Now in their 37th year, the awards are open to all Victorian schools (government and non-government), and in that time have reached an estimated three million students.

Established by Paul Crowe OAM and the late Kevin Heinze the well-known ABC Garden presenter, the Victorian Schools Garden Awards have a long history of bringing the joy of gardens and gardening to school aged children. These gardens provide spaces where children may learn about productive gardens, biodiversity and sustainable practices, as well as providing a way to engage students, teachers, parents and the broader community. It also gives students an opportunity to practise environmental management and explore fresh ideas in the face of climate change by being involved in the development of green spaces within their own school environment.

The 2014 VSGA Presentation Day was held recently at Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens to announce the winners of this year’s program and celebrate their gardening achievements, we had 450 students, teachers, parents and volunteers attend from schools across Victoria. Forty schools were awarded for their gardening efforts and shared in $40,000 worth of prizes for the ongoing development of their school gardens. The Kevin Heinze Perpetual Award of $3,000 was won by St Louis de Montforts Primary School in Aspendale.

This year the VSGA introduced a new grants program. The grants program is designed to provide seed funding to schools to establish new gardens in their schools. The response received from schools exceeded our expectations, receiving 380 grant applications from 190 schools. It was promising to see so many schools with an interest in establishing or expanding the green environment of their school grounds. It proves that schools are recognising the educational, health and well-being benefits of using the outdoors as an additional classroom.

“The fourfold increase in schools applying for this year’s Awards and Grants scheme shows that teachers, parents and schools understand the importance of green-space in creating healthy surroundings, conducive to learning and life in general. There is a growing body of research that clearly demonstrates the link between urban green-space and the physical and mental health and general well-being of residents.”

VSGA also proudly hosts and participates in a series of professional development (PD) workshops for teachers, parents and volunteers with a focus on the development of sustainable school gardens. These PDs are delivered with a range of partners including schools, members of the Nursery and Garden Industry of Victoria, local councils, members of the Healthy Together Victoria network and also with the Bendigo Botanic Gardens.

For the more information – go to Victorian Schools Garden Awards.