Voting is Open!

Voting Has Closed!

Judging is underway for the School Vege Challenge 2023 and you have the chance to vote for the best school vege garden. The school with the most votes will receive the People's Choice Award, and 10 points towards their grand total.

Voting closes at 5pm on Sunday 16th July 2023.

Your vote will be based on anonymous photos so you may not know which school you're voting for, only which is the best looking garden!

Click the photos below to see them in a slideshow before you cast your vote.

Thank you to everyone who voted for the People's Choice Award in this year's School Vege Challenge! We're very pleased with how well all the schools have performed and look forward to announcing the results of the competition soon.
Voting is now open:Cast Your Vote!

People's Choice Leaderboard

The School Gardening Partnership

We recognise that each school is at a different place in their gardening journey so we want to partner with you to provide the gardening supplies and expertise you need.

Over the last few years we've run the School Vege Challenge, but we're changing it up in 2024. We now invite the schools of Whanganui to join us in the School Gardening Partnership, a yearly commitment to support you and your students as you grow your garden.

The primary goal of the partnership is to offer an introduction to gardening as a life skill for children and young people. Gardening is a great form of recreation with positive benefits for mental health through connecting with the outside environment.

If you join the partnership you will receive:

  • Free gardening supplies up to the value of $100 per term
  • At least one visit per term from our School Gardening Co-ordinator, Brydie Hamblyn
  • Help from Brydie on a custom gardening program to suit your school
  • 10% discount on all gardening products at Springvale Garden Centre

All we ask in return is that you share your gardening journey regularly on your social media channels and allow us to do the same.

For all the details, please download the info document.

School Gardening Partnership News:

The Challenge Is On!

March 24, 2023
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22 schools in the 2023 challenge have received their starter kits. We are excited to see progress as they send photos through and we upload to their profiles below.

Check out the profile of each school below to see where their gardens are up to.

We (Springvale Garden Centre) are looking forward to doing a mid-point check-in visiting many of the school's gardens in late April.

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Participating Schools for 2024

Click on the summaries below to see the photos and info for each school that participated in the School Vege Challenge 2024.

Kaitoke School

We have just started a gardening club that the children can join. We’ve done lots of clearing out to make space for our garden.
View School

Bulls School

We’re working towards several projects within the school with gardening using vegetables, flowers, composting and worm farms.
View School
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Gonville School

The students loved the 2023 Challenge and keep asking to do it again. We are currently growing kūmara for puanga and would love to expand.
View School
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Hunterville School

We have a lot of students who are very hungry by lunchtime so our aim is to create a garden big enough to feed our school at lunchtime!
View School
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Castlecliff School

We are excited to be part of this new partnership. We are trying to teach life skills, while also providing vegetables to our whanau.
View School
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St. Dominic’s College

We would love to participate in the programme, as the students enjoyed the competition last year and made a lot of progress in their garden.
View School
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Mosston School

We have many learners who are interested in gardening, with a dedicated Green Team who love learning about and caring for our environment.
View School
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St. John’s Hill School

We value empowering students to learn to grow their own kai sustainably. This year we are establishing some new gardens.
View School
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Rutherford Junior High

We aim to provide opportunities for hands-on learning. Moving our students to eat and love their own fresh produce.
View School
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Brunswick School

We strive to involve the students in the journey of garden-to-table by sending home harvests for students to share with their whanau.
View School
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Aranui School

We have students who are very keen on gardening and we have a supportive group of parents working with them to build their knowledge.
View School
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Churton School

Children will be taught to look after and nurture the garden. They can learn about different types of vegetables and what they can be used for.
View School

In association with:

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Sponsored by:

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Egmont Commercial logo
Stow-A-Way logo