Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Program

Kitchen Garden

In 2021 John Hartley School was lucky enough to win a Kitchen Garden Kickstart Grant. This enabled us to not only install a Kitchen Garden but to also join the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation. The aim of the foundation is to encourage a pleasurable food education to children and young people during their learning years. In 2022 we incorporated the program into the Year 4 and 5 learning.

The program is underpinned by the belief that if a child is regularly engaged in hands-on activities in the garden and in the kitchen, that child will look forward to a healthy future. Each week students participate in a variety of activities in the garden and use produce that we have grown in the kitchen. Students look forward to Kitchen Garden lessons each week and are always excited to dig in the garden beds searching for worms and picking fresh strawberries.

Breakfast Club

John Hartley School runs a daily Breakfast Club that is supported by Foodbank SA. Each day from 8.30-8.45am students are able to come to the Building 10 Kitchen and receive a nutritious breakfast to help get them through the day ahead. Students have access to toast, cereal and fruit (fresh or tinned). The program is free for all students to access. The program is volunteer run with teachers, SSOs and students all involved in the preparation. We are also lucky enough to receive some community support from outside the school.