Growing Green Shoots and Creative Minds
There’s a pleasing historical synergy between Newington’s newest green space, the Pyke Rooftop Garden, and its namesake, the College’s 12th Headmaster.
Mr Lawrence Pyke was Headmaster at Newington from 1952 to 1960. The College’s second scientist headmaster (from a preceding cohort of classical scholars) Mr Pyke was a progressive educator who cultivated a period of unprecedented growth in our school’s history. In 1953, he oversaw the building of the War Memorial Block.
A new Arts and a Science block followed in the immediate years, and he was also the driving force behind the opening of Lindfield Preparatory in 1957. School enrolment also matured markedly across the entire school during his tenure from 600 students in 1952 to 970 by 1960. In the same eight years, teaching staff numbers in the senior school grew from 23 to 42.
All of which gives the feeling the 12th Headmaster of Newington would have enjoyed seeing the roof of his already eponymously named building commandeered as a dedicated teaching garden, agrees Mr Ben Dawbin, Head of Technology.
A self-confessed green thumb, Mr Dawbin is responsible for initiating the project, brought to life by Newington’s brilliant Property Maintenance and Grounds Team. The Pyke Rooftop Garden will be used by students as they investigate food and agricultural practices across various subjects in Year 8 Technology. Our student scientists will also engage with the garden to examine cells, plant systems and soil pH levels.
Says Mr Dawbin, ‘there’s a real difference between sitting in the classroom learning about growing food or soil and actually getting practical hands-on experience planting, maintaining, recording growth, weeding, picking produce or testing. So this new space is all about imbedding the practical with the theory, quite literally bringing the syllabus to life for our students.’
Sequestering a disused greenhouse and a few planter boxes already in situ, the resplendent Pyke Rooftop Garden now contains six large, raised garden beds, an outdoor space with benches to be used as an al fresco classroom as well as the best views over Sydney’s inner west to the airport.
In the past two weeks, students have planted out a large range of vegetables, herbs, citrus and natives; including pumpkins, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, chillis, capsicums, rocket, peas and beans, olives, mandarin, pomegranate and finger limes. Year 8 will be the primary beneficiaries of the rooftop garden with the entire year group mandated to study a food and agricultural component in the Stage 4 Technology syllabus.
Produce will later be cooked by the cohort in the new full size teaching kitchen due to be constructed over the Christmas break, says Mr Dawbin.
‘We expect some of the produce will be ready to pick and cook next term but it’s really encouraging as already our students are all so enthused and engaged being up there because it’s a very communal, tactile environment.’
As anyone who has started a garden will know however, growing anything, especially somewhere new, always involves a bit of trial and error, he says.
‘It’s a fabulous location however, it is in full sun and open to the elements as well as the birds and bats at night, so we may have to wage war on a few fronts.
‘But that also means we’ll have these challenges to address, and the students will be involved in this problem solving. This entire rooftop project is all about growing green shoots and creative minds.’
Mrs Julie Daly, Newington Archivist, also likes the quiet symbiosis between Mr Pyke’s role at Newington and this most recent upward trajectory of the College.
‘As a scientist Mr Pyke would have enjoyed the idea of a rooftop garden in his name, inspiring the students to think and explore and grow.’
