The school boasts a vegetable garden, orchard, worm farm, greenhouse and spaces for small animals such as chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs.
It is also part of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation, an organisation that has been promoting the creation of gardens in hundreds of schools across Australia for 20 years.
The aim is to allow students to grow vegetables, herbs and fruit to cook dishes they can enjoy with their classmates, while teaching them about nutrition and the importance of a short supply chain.
Known to her students as “signora Bellisai”, teacher Kelly Ruffell has managed the culinary aspect of the program for two years, while her colleague Cynthia is in charge of the garden, which – despite the lockdowns – is in excellent condition this year.
Depending on the season, rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, potatoes, beets, parsley, oranges and lemons grow there.
The six classes from Years 3 and 4 that participate in the program every Friday are divided into two: one group works in the garden while the other is busy in the kitchen.
Some 50 parents volunteer in the program, assisting the teachers and taking part in training sessions related to the activities carried out during the year.
Signora Bellisai is also the Italian teacher at the school, which has 550 students.
It is only natural that the recipes on the menu have an Italian twist: think pizza, pesto, fettuccine, ricotta ravioli, potato gnocchi, salads and focaccia, all made with vegetables, eggs and herbs from the garden.
If there are any eggs left over once the cooking is done, they are sold to families within the school community.
Recently, students had an entire Italian lesson on potato gnocchi, in which they analysed the recipe and completed an activity in preparation for the Friday kitchen session.
“I use Italian in the kitchen to list the ingredients and utensils we need,” signora Bellisai said.
“The children greet me in Italian and, being a Catholic school, we say grace and make the sign of the cross in Italian.
“And we don’t start eating until we’ve said ‘buon appetito’ all together.”
An important aspect of the program is the moment in which students sit down to enjoy the meal.
Signora Bellisai encourages her students to try new flavours and, with a little extra push from their classmates, even the pickiest eaters give everything a go.
“Many children don’t have a chance to sit around the table [at home],” she said.
“This is a way to learn good table manners.”
Signora Bellisai’s passion for Italian cuisine was born on the southern Italian island of Sardinia, where she lived for 10 years with her husband.
Her mother-in-law, who taught her many of the recipes she now passes on to her students, still gives her cooking tips on WhatsApp.
The teacher studied Italian at Monash University, perfecting it at the University for Foreigners of Perugia.
“But it was living and working in Sardinia that I really learned Italian,” she concluded.
She now finds herself sharing not one, but two of her passions with her students, and encourages other teachers to use the kitchen as a vehicle for learning.
