It is the time of abundance and harvest in nature. Flowers in late summer colours are in full bloom, and ripening tomatoes are smiling at their gardeners, promising incredible flavour.

At CBESS, the school garden has again become a living place to gather, to build and nourish community relations. Spring clean up, involving three generations, was followed by a PAC initiated plant fundraiser in May and in June, a summer work and celebrate session for families. Our garden plays an integral role for our famous hot-lunch program, both as a resource of healthy ingredients, as well as a bridge for children to dare to try new things to eat.

Teachers are excited to get the students back in the garden as a living part of our curriculum. It is a place of curiosity, wonder and excitement, with new things to discover in every corner, and a place of social connection. The harvest will be in abundance, the kindergarten children will go for their first scavenger hunt, find colours, bees, worms, birds, rocks and sticks. It will be a happy place, a place in which our school’s commitment to our student’s well-being, to trauma informed practice, and to living and breathing the First Peoples Principles of Learning (see two of the seven below) can be seen alive.

• Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors.
• Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).

Watch the CBESS garden documentary from the beginnings in 2015, in case you have not seen it yet and are curious. 

Thank you to all the children, parents, grandparents and generous community members for all that you do to help our garden thrive!

Daniela Fiess