News

Training the trainers and learning from the learners

November 2011 saw one of our biggest training days ever, with a hugely successful Melbourne-based session of Kitchen and Garden Specialist Professional Development coinciding with our first-ever Curriculum Planning Professional Development session.

With 25 different workshops, over 130 participants, 2 locations, a host of expert guest presenters and most of the Kitchen Garden Foundation staff from Melbourne and interstate present, we knew it was going to be a big day. Thanks to some very forward planning and our fabulous, eager participants, it went off without a hitch and has everyone looking forward to a host of new training sessions across Australia in 2012.

The day included a full day of advanced workshops designed for Kitchen and Garden Specialists to build on their skills and develop new ones - we call it the ‘ultimate kitchen garden learning experience'. The Learning Centre, where the workshops were held, was buzzing with Specialists exploring ideas and techniques outside their comfort zones. Growing Asian greens, making fresh haloumi (one of the most popular dishes at lunchtime), building a micro-climate using banana tress (not as big as you'd think), recruiting volunteers, creating a traditional Portuguese menu, constructing a ‘chook tractor' to allow the hens to do all the hard work in preparing garden beds - and much, much more.

The day also included our first (sold out!) Curriculum Planning session, at our old haunt the Abbotsford Convent - an absorbing learning environment. Here we focused on using the Kitchen Garden Program as a resource for teachers to achieve student learning outcomes in classroom, garden and kitchen settings. These workshops are always full of creative thinking sessions where so many ideas are generated through discussion and brainstorming - it appears the kitchen and garden spaces have almost infinite applications for the new Australian Curriculum. It also gave participants a chance to start their own curriculum planning using the Kitchen Garden Program for 2012, as well as a personal introduction to our popular Tools for Teachers resource series.

As always, we learn just as much from our training days as our trainees do - including any resources schools are needing (on the list!), how we can further support our school staff (personal conversations are invaluable) and what we can include in future training sessions (so much more in the pipeline!) We love the enthusiasm and willingness to share among Kitchen Garden School staff, and we received some really great feedback from the training. Here's just one example, from a participant who travelled down from NSW for the day:

The quality of the training provided by the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation always leaves me blown away. I have not been to any training days that have not been incredibly worthwhile, but the Melbourne PD day is my favourite. The choice of workshops is amazing, the hardest part is always choosing which ones to sign up for. In the past I have chosen cooking classes as some of the garden choices have been a bit basic but this year the range of garden workshops was outstanding. I learnt so much and tasted things I have never even seen before. The presenters are always very knowledgeable and easy to talk to (the Foundation seems to only employ the BEST people).

The days are just the right balance between learning workshops and opportunities to network with other Specialists (which is also very important because we learn so much from each other). I always leave inspired and excited to get back to school to share all this knew knowledge with the kids. The training is also supported by print-outs and resources on the website to remind us of all the little details we may forget before we get to apply the information or in case we want to access it at a later date. Thank you. (Nicole Bird, Garden Specialist, Barooga PS)

Training days are always exciting, as we bring in facilitators from the local community to pass on their skills and experience, along with the Foundation's vast collective knowledge. Moreover, it's a great opportunity for staff from schools in a similar geographic region to meet each other and swap stories and contact details.

We have a huge training schedule planned for 2012, including workshops designed for Specialists, Classroom Teachers, Principals and volunteers, from staff just beginning in a brand-new Kitchen Garden School all the way through to the green thumb or old kitchen hand who might be surprised by what they can still learn. You can learn more about our training schedule rolling out all over Australia here.

(But of course if you're a curious - but very welcome - member of the public, we'd love to see you at one of our public workshops - just click here for more information.)