Food education in a remote South Australian school

• Miltaburra Area School, in South Australia, proves distance is no barrier to hands‑on food education. 

• Students from kindergarten to Year 12 learn together through their Kitchen Garden Program. 

• A virtual tour is available to watch below. 

In our latest virtual tour, we travelled to a remote corner of South Australia near the Nullarbor Plain to discover how one remarkable school brings food education to life. 

Miltaburra Area School, located 700 kilometres northwest of Adelaide, caters for students from kindergarten to Year 12. Surrounded by cattle stations, the school sits at the heart of a vast rural landscape, with the school bus covering a 150‑kilometre round trip each day. 

Led by educators Sondra Kessell and Andrew Dunn since its inception, the Kitchen Garden Program has been a cornerstone of hands‑on learning at the school since 2014.  

During the virtual tour, Andrew and Sondra walked us through their orange and lemon trees, around the outdoor firepit, and past the chicken coop. From aquaponic beds repurposed as wicking systems to passionfruit and grapevines that protect from summer winds, the garden offers rich learning opportunities. Students come together fortnightly for garden classes, applying knowledge across science, sustainability and food systems. 

With the school located in an area prone to extreme weather, Andrew also shared his top tips for protecting crops during periods of high heat and strong winds. 

“Knowing that those conditions are coming, you can sort of be prepared for it,” says Andrew. “I would increase the irrigation settings knowing that a heat wave is coming up... ensuring all the wicking beds are full and plants without irrigation are watered suitably before a heat wave,” he says.   

A highlight of the tour was the school’s newly established pollinator garden, filled with flax lilies, dianella, saltbushes, and other flowering plants. Students worked together to create the space, supporting the local ecosystem and providing a habitat for native bees and butterflies. 

Over in the kitchen, students eagerly chop and prepare the produce they’ve harvested, filling salad bowls with a vibrant mix of colours, flavours and textures. Kitchen classes also run fortnightly, giving students of all ages the chance to explore fresh fruit and vegetables as they work together to prepare a shared meal. 

“We have had students in the past who would just refuse to try anything,” says Sondra, “But eventually they all come around to tasting everything...when [they see] other students are eating as well.” 

Our next virtual tour, exclusive to Kitchen Garden Program members, will be announced soon! If you’d like to host a tour and showcase how you bring food education to life, register your interest here. 

Not a member? Our next public virtual tour will be announced in our monthly newsletter. Subscribe here. 

This virtual tour was made possible by our multi-year grant from the Government of South Australia’s Department of Education, to support South Australian educators to implement positive food education.   

South Australian educators also have access to a free, downloadable guide to help embed food education into their schools or early childhood services.