Margaret River Networking and Skills Workshop

This story originally appeared on the Margaret River Primary School blog.

On Thursday, 1 June, an excited group of thirty gardeners and aspirant cooks gathered in the kitchen garden at Margaret River Primary School to share and learn together.

All hailing from kitchen garden schools, these representatives had come together for a Networking and Skills Workshop with the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation.

The participants were also there to see how Margaret River Primary School conducts its Kitchen Garden Program, and to enjoy the spoils of the school’s kitchen garden in the delicious meals they cooked up in the kitchen.

Participants really enjoyed being in a different environment and meeting like-minded teachers, all passionate about the values of a kitchen garden program in their schools. They came from as far afield as Karratha, Dongara, Pemberton and Albany, with Kitchen Garden Foundation Ambassador, Ian Parmenter and Stephanie Alexander herself, big drawcards for this special event.

The main thrust of the day was sharing stories about each school’s journey with the Kitchen Garden Program, finding common issues and concerns, whilst celebrating successes too.

Mel Somerset, Margaret River Primary School’s inaugural kitchen specialist, was one of the attendees and she commented:

“It is so important for adults to experience firsthand what it feels like to have to work in a group to cook a dish in the kitchen, having to practise co-operative skills like taking turns and being responsible for different tasks. This gives teachers a much better understanding when asking their students to do the same.”

Other participants mentioned how inspiring the day had been and how excited they were to take so many good ideas back to their respective schools.

Ian Parmenter led the discussion with Stephanie Alexander in a Q&A style forum, as Stephanie explained her motivation for starting the program, being her desire to teach children about healthy eating and how food is grown. Stephanie Alexander also recognised the work being done at Margaret River Primary School, stating “this school is an example of the program working really well”.

In between washing up in the kitchen and chasing chooks in the garden, Margaret River Primary School’s Kitchen Garden Program Coordinator Geoff McLeod said he was thrilled with the turnout and that the day was a big success.

“My advice to participants is to start small and to build relationships and support structures within your school and community to have the stamina and depth for the program to survive,” Geoff said.

From the photos (in the gallery above), you can see how much fun everybody had.

Margaret River Primary School would like to thank Geoff McLeod for his work and vision with the school’s Kitchen Garden Program, and Sarah and Teri for their hard work teaching students about healthy eating and growing fresh produce organically, and their hard work on the day.

The Foundation would like to thank Margaret River Primary School for hosting the Networking and Skills Workshop, and everyone who attended the workshop, for helping make it such a successful day.

• The Foundation’s training team is holding more Networking and Skills Workshops around Australia in coming months.