A message from Mr Chris Stevens Beautiful Gardens’ Lunch Club Coordinator, Wellington

We are very proud to announce that St Mary’s has won an award in the Rotary Town Garden Competition. We were nominated for and won the “Best School Garden Created and Cared for (wholly or partly) by Children”. The garden beds around the staff car park, hall and canteen began from bare earth (and weeds) in 2019. Throughout 2022 each Wednesday students came to weed, plant, water, remove rubbish, dig, mulch and more. All the plants came from family donations, cuttings and gifts, as well as plenty of tools to help us on our way.

We moved onto other gardens in the school, but continue to weed and remove rubbish from these beds. Today, we have a beautiful garden to enjoy from the fruits of their labour. Thanks to our groundsman, Jonno Walters for alerting us about the competition and encouraging us to enter. And a big thank you to the many, many students who have got their hands dirty over the past few years. Congratulations on your award.

You can see our journey with many photos at this website link