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When Monica Doherty, St Anthony’s School, Edwardstown’s assistant principal religious identity and mission, set up the Garden Ants initiative in 2021, she was hoping to watch not just some vegies but also her young students grow.
What she didn’t expect to see blossom were new connections between the children and older members of the local Edwardstown parish.
Created with financial support from a CESA Laudato Si grant for student-led projects, Garden Ants encourages students to follow in the footsteps of St Francis and care for the Earth.
Starting with a couple of garden beds, enthusiastic young gardeners planted seeds to care for and develop their own vegie patches. But then something amazing happened.
“There is a dividing fence between the school and the local parish. I moved the garden beds over towards the fence so parishioners could see the students working and promote interactions to take place,” Ms Doherty, who is also the school’s inclusive education co-ordinator, says.
“When the parishioners were going to church, they would pick produce we had made and then they started to leave cuttings and other things for us. The children called it, ‘Take a cutting, share a cutting and watch our garden grow’.”
So successful was the project that the school ended up with an overload of produce.
“We started making soup for the homeless and then we fed the whole school for a gold coin donation which went to Vinnies,” Ms Doherty says.
But it is in the growth of her students that Ms Doherty finds most joy, having witnessed the power of student agency through Garden Ants.
“Socially the difference has been amazing,” she says.
“Some of the students have developed confidence and skills of connection and interaction with others. They are now team leaders – they start in the garden and then other students come to join them.
“They are learning science, social skills, reading, language, having to read instructions and care for things. They love getting their hands dirty.”
She has also witnessed an increase in confidence on both sides of the school fence line.
“I love watching those students at the fence engaging with the parish community and the parishioners connecting back. When you see a parishioner putting produce on the giving table, that is a really joyous moment for me.”
Pictured above: St Anthony’s primary school students Natalia, Lachlan, Kiana, Reily and Max with APRIM Monica Doherty.
Choosing a school for your child is one of the biggest decisions you make as a parent. In South Australia, families have a wide range of schooling options, including a Catholic Education.
Catholic Education South Australia (CESA) is making it easy to explore the benefits of a Catholic education by opening the doors at its 103 Catholic schools across SA during its annual Catholic Schools Open Week.
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