When Luch Brighella started working as a sustainability teacher at John Paul II Catholic School in Rokeby, his brief was to set up a garden to provide fresh produce for the school’s lunch program. ‘The driving force,’ he said, ‘was to give the students a good, nutritious meal. But we also wanted to teach them life skills, and help the planet.’
Fruitful lessons in landcare
Luch, an ex-principal, had previously spent some time travelling through South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. ‘I wanted to see what other schools were doing in terms of sustainability,’ he said, ‘and what was working.’
Last year, at John Paul II, he put this research into practice with the establishment of a garden, a worm farm, and the Fruits for Forest program.
‘We did a survey of the whole school, with the students and staff voting for the fruits they most wanted us to grow. The top one was strawberries. Then raspberries, apples, grapes and lemons.’
Luch took a group of student sustainability leaders to a nursery, then to the Warrane Community Garden to show them different growing methods. ‘We upskilled some of the older students on how to plant the new trees, and they took small groups from the other classes to help with the planting. Even the kinders got involved.’
The end result was 35 new fruit trees in the school grounds, and more than 50 berry plants, as well as strawberries grown from runners.
Luch’s other major focus has been a market garden. Eight big garden beds were built, and the students helped him fill them with soil, compost and manure. ‘It’s amazing what two hundred and forty kids can do in a day,’ he said.
This year, the gardens have produced zucchini, tomatoes, pumpkins, parsley, silverbeet, beans and peas. ‘We harvested some potatoes for the lunch program today and the kids were really excited.’
Luch talks to the students about bees and pollination, and they help with mulching, planting and digging. ‘We don’t make the kids come out,’ he said. ‘It’s just an invitation.’
He has started a worm farm with the Preps, and wants to get into composting. He is also thinking about building a greenhouse.
He has had a couple of grants for the garden program, one from Woolworths Junior Landcare, and a Keep Australia Beautiful sustainability grant. The school put in money, too, and has started a sustainability team of teachers, teaching assistants and canteen assistants.
‘I’m pretty happy with how it’s going,’ said Luch. ‘If we grow our own food it tastes better, costs less, and helps with mental health and well-being. The children enjoy the gardening, the fresh air and the heavy lifting.’
Luch Brighella and John Paul II Catholic School have been chosen by Clarence Climate Action as this month’s Climate Champions.
Eastern Shore Sun, May 2025, page 3