Currently our staffing consists of a principal, assistant principal, 16 teaching positions and a teacher aide. Our facilities include primary and secondary classrooms, library, art room, outpatient assessment programs, teacher seminar series for teachers of children with chronic illness. We have an annual enrolment of over 3000 students.

About the Adolescent ward and program details

The ward is a 22 bed general medical ward, with surgical and chronically ill patients such as Cystic Fibrosis, diabetes, juvenile arthritis, eating disorders. Majority of these patients have multiple admissions 2 to 3 weeks.

School program  runs in the morning and tries to focus on their school or origin work in maths and English, the afternoon sessions are different types of innovative programs such as horticulture, media, art, guitar.

Horticultural Program

This was originally set up because of the nature of the children, need for an exciting, motivating, challenging project and program. A horticultural program provides the type of depth of program I wanted to implement. One of my parents approached Kevin Heinze at a garden show and mentioned the idea to him. 1 phoned him and so we began a series of meetings with Kevin, Margaret Armstrong from the Horticultural Therapy Association of Victoria and other interested representatives. Our garden had begun.

Aims of the horticultural program

• To provide adolescents and children the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of activities with horticulture.
• To provide an environment in which adolescents can develop new skills, acquire knowledge and enjoy the diversity of activities offered by horticulture.
• To provide an ongoing program in which patients can participate regardless of age, disability / illness or length of hospital stay.
• To provide general understanding of the principles of plant growth and natural systems with an emphasis on conservation and improvement of the environment.
• To provide a pleasant environment for patients and their families to enjoy within the hospital.

Program is run one day a week and includes composting, propagating, taking cuttings, raising seedlings.

Learning outcomes

• To identify elements of a natural system
• To compare features of a natural system
• To describe and example of a cycle within natural systems and the place of people in it.

Other outcomes

• recreational and therapeutic  the focus is off them
• children gain control of their environment
• decide what goes on e.g. what goes in
• they can change or adjust the variables
• they can forget where they are and what they have
• diversional therapy in a non medical environment
• aids pain management
• occupational therapy
• pure escapism relaxation
• their own secret garden

Associated activities

• art/craft activities  flower pressing, potpourri, ceramic bird bath, wooden bird feeder.
• cooking  tomato sauce, using herbs
• fund raising small business
• recycling of bottles for sauce throughout the hospital
• recycling of food scraps from the kitchen for compost and worm farm
• graphic design competition of labels for sauce