School: Maroondah Secondary College (VIC)
Partner: EACH Social and Community Health and Bunnings Warehouse
Maroondah Secondary College is a co-educational urban secondary school with 530 students. A multicultural student population adds a rich dimension to the student body, and in 2010 the school has a cohort of 84 ESL/Refugee students from Sudan and Burma, along with a small number of international students.
Through the development of the school’s strategic plan, and in response to findings from student and parent surveys, the school identified the need to improve student engagement (with a focus on boys’ education), student relationships within the school and the broader community, and safety and wellbeing for all students as priorities for the school.
Early in 2009, EACH Social and Community Health signed a three-year partnership agreement with Maroondah Secondary College with the commitment to help the school create quality health promotion programs. Consistent with this partnership, Bunnings Warehouse in Croydon also signed an agreement to help improve the school’s healthy eating environment through consultation and the provision of workshops, garden materials and equipment.
The Healthy Eating Environment Project was born from these partnerships and is designed to establish a sustainable, healthy, eating environment for the school community through the development of a kitchen garden and improving existing canteen facilities and their operation. The kitchen garden will be maintained by the student group with the aid of the partner organisations and the garden’s produce will be used in the revamped school canteen.
The evidence base for the program is drawn mainly from the literature on school connectedness and health promoting schools. It is expected that the program will benefit students by improving the school’s physical environment and strengthening students’ connectedness to the school; increasing student engagement through hands-on learning; improving their knowledge about food safety and hygiene; and empowering students with the knowledge to make appropriate food choices and improve their general health.
At this stage, presentations have been delivered to teaching staff, students and the school council, and meetings have been held with key stakeholders to lay the foundations of the project.
In signing three-year contracts, spanning from the program’s establishment in 2009 until its intended re-evaluation in 2012, the partners have demonstrated their long-term commitment to this commendable partnership. The Schools First Seed Funding will enable this program to become a reality.
