Our Patch

Marden Senior College staff and students have previously worked with Project Officers from the AMLRNRM Board, the Urban Forests Biodiversity Program the Norwood Payneham St Peter’s Council for over 12 years. During that time we planted thousands of local native plants with 90 indigenous species now established at the site.
The project was developed for Senior Secondary Students to link their Environmental Studies course to a practical hands-on field work. The re-vegetation work has re-created an area similar to the original vegetation cover of this area.
Marden Senior College has also enacted a Sustainable Schools program, linking native vegetation gardens in the school grounds with the River Torrens re-vegetation work.

Watch our movie:  Marden Senior College working with the community to save the locals

Totally Wild  also did a story on us.

The idea to focus on planting indigenous food and medicine plants came about because of the strong personal interest of several of our students who wanted to learn more about Aboriginal culture and traditional caring for the environment.

Over the past decade, students of Marden Senior College have planted thousands of local native trees, shrubs and ground cover plants at ‘Our Patch’, a one-acre site on the banks of the River Torrens nearby the College.  The aim has been to restore the site to how it might have been 200 years ago.   This activity developed a further portion of ‘Our Patch’ adjacent to the previous plantings, but highlighted Aboriginal food and medicine plants and the importance of the river environment for the seasonal food gathering activities of the Kaurna people.  This was a valuable outdoor teaching and learning resource for local schools, featuring interpretive signs and prepared teacher information and student workbooks.