Digging deep – bush tucker, butterflies coming to ELC

There’s some room for growth at Blackfriars’ Early Learning Centre – in a very good way.

Purple Room teacher Vittoria Maiorana has secured a Woolworths Junior Landcare Grant to create a bush tucker garden trail, with plants native to the Prospect area.

She also hopes, with the right plants, butterflies will be attracted to the space.

The ELC students will be a key part of creating the garden – from the initial planning, to planting and maintaining it once established.

“The children will be able to enjoy a natural play space while learning how to care for living things, the natural environment and its creatures,” Miss Maiorana said.

“They will be able to experience the lifecycle of plants and other creatures and develop their knowledge on different cultures through the bush tucker trail.”

The Purple Room students recently visited Adelaide Botanic Garden to get some ideas on what plants they might like to include in their own garden space.

Miss Maiorana also hoped to involve a local member of the Indigenous community in deciding what to plant as part of the bush tucker trail.

According to the South Australian Government’s Good Living website, butterflies help in plant pollination, are an overall indicator of environmental health and, importantly, make us happy.

Woolworths General Manager Community Peter O’Sullivan said: “Our Woolworths Junior Landcare Grants will help schools create and maintain projects that grow the younger generation’s understanding of the importance of protecting our environment.”

The Woolworths Junior Landcare Grants program is funded with a 10c contribution from each sale of Woolworths’ reusable “Bag for Good”.

Bag for Good was launched in 2018 when Woolworths went single-use plastic bag free.