Student Community Projects Exhibited at IB Virtual Conference, Asia-Pacific 2021

1 April 2021

Gardens have many functions; they give us social space and green space. We wanted our garden  to  provide our school community with opportunities to grow plants and also provide a place to enhance well-being.

Establishing a sustainable garden was essential. After careful planning and sourcing recycled materials, our garden was born in Term 4 of 2019. The initial idea came from a middle school student who wanted to provide hands-on activities for his friends during lunch breaks. Using gardening skills taught by his grandmother and with his passion for gardening, he wrote a plan for a garden and presented it to the Principal. The gardening group was born and incorporated into the Sustainability Co-Curricular Activity (CCA), modelled using Sustainability Compass Education. Students were eager to join the CCA to learn new skills and to occupy their lunch breaks.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a number of mental health issues. After coming out of lockdown in June 2020, our school became a refuge, particularly the garden area. All plants are cultivated from mother plants or from seeds. Pots and tools are recycled and our soil is made from compost.

Students, along with teachers are pruning, weeding and just relaxing among the plants. Even maintenance staff begin to share their skills. We are now collaborating with National Parks Board to grow rainforest trees which will eventually be planted in Singapore. We want our garden to be sustainable and also a place that unites our school community.

One challenge that students face is learning how to grow plants in the tropics. They have to research how best to care for plants. Students are continually looking for ways to improve the garden which keeps them active and interested in utilising urban spaces for a sustainable future. Click here to watch our sustainable garden video.

Logo and poster prepared by Fu Si Jie (2 Oldham)

Video content and abstract by Johannes Wong (3 Oldham), Shu Lin Lauren Chye (4 Thoburn) and Tawan Ng Wei Ming (6 GHK)

Video produced and edited by Joshua Maspolim (6 CKS)

Ms Mattie Jackson

Supervising Teacher