Garden to Table in Action - Cambridge Primary School

Cambridge Primary School may be small in size, but their passion, vision, and ambition, is in no short supply.

The school - located in the heart of the Wāipa District, is one of the latest additions to the Garden to Table whānau, having recently integrated our food education programme into their curriculum.

Garden to Table’s Regional Coordinator for the Waikato region - Kate (middle), pictured with Cambridge Primary School’s Board Chair - Andrea, and Principal - Mike.

The Garden to Table programme was a natural fit for the school - which embraces a holistic programme, and has a strong focus on environmental stewardship.

“Understanding where food comes from, how we look after and nourish and grow food, learning healthy lessons about food choices and how we live, will help our students flourish and be the best they can”, says Andrea - the Board Chair of Cambridge Primary School.

The school joined Garden to Table in the middle of 2021, after the Deputy Principal - Nic Pettit, saw the programme in action at another local school.

Creativity and adaptability soon became central to the school’s programme. With new Covid restrictions and lockdowns being introduced within the first few weeks of their establishment, Cambridge Primary found themselves focusing on outdoor cooking and learning opportunities, which were run in bubbles.

But, behind-the-scenes, the students and staff were working on a bigger project … converting an unused office space into a brand-new kitchen facility, set to empower Cambridge Primary students to grow, harvest, prepare, and share good food for generations to come.

Earlier this month, they were able to see their work come to fruition, at the official opening of the space.

The official opening of the new kitchen space

During the opening ceremony - which a Garden to Table representative proudly attended, the building was blessed, before a selection of special guests spoke about their journey to date.

“We had a vision. The Board of Trustees supported us - and we turned an office space into something our children can benefit from here at Cambridge Primary”, Principal Mike Pettit explained.

Ākonga were involved every step of the way - with Mike challenging a class of 15 senior students to come up with a design for the space.

“We set up a competition for a tech unit. We gave the students a brief, the purpose and functionality of the space, and a budget”.

The winning design was selected for its simplicity.

During the ceremony, students from the winning team spoke to the guests - detailing their decisions to knock out a wall to create more functional space, and to put shelves under the tables to create extra storage.

Heidi and Kelly - Cambridge Primary’s Kitchen and Garden Specialists speaking at the opening ceremony, alongside Principal Mike

As Heidi and Kelly - the Kitchen and Garden Specialists at Cambridge Primary, spoke at the ceremony, they glanced around the room and laughed at how mismatched many of the items in the kitchen were.

“You’ll see a whole lot of mismatched everything. But that’s really awesome”.

The colourful assortment of items serve as a metaphor - representing a community coming together.

Throughout the build project, individuals and groups from within the school community, and beyond, kindly offered their time, money, expertise, and items - with parents, board members, and local tradespeople from the community all helping out.

The Lions Shed has been collecting items for the kitchen, while Volare Bread and Kaivolution regularly donate pantry items to accompany the students homemade dishes.

The speeches were followed by a breakfast, featuring dishes that had been prepared by Cambridge Primary students, including muesli, berry compote, and sourdough.

The dishes all championed produce from the garden - which also recently received a makeover, including pruning the fruit trees, and installing more garden beds.

As well as the peas pictured below, the tamariki have also been growing and harvesting capsicum, carrots, cauliflower, rosemary, calendula, and broccoli, plus whole lot more in the hot house.

Looking ahead, Cambridge Primary School is excited to equip their ākonga with schools that will last a lifetime.

They’ll be continuing to run their programme each Thursday - with every student, from year 1 through to year 6, getting to participate.

Already, Heidi and Kelly are filled with heartwarming anecdotes of the impact that Garden to Table has had on their students, through the sessions they’ve held to date.

“It’s been a powerful experience to watch these kids gain their skills. We have kids that say ‘I don’t wanna try that’. They’ll take a little bit, and then they’ll come back, and want seconds. It’s awesome to see the growth of them. The learning is so hands-on, real-world based, and rich”.

Ka mahi, Cambridge Primary School! We are so proud of the impact you have created already … and look forward to watching your programme continue to grow.