St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Bible Garden ripped up by crooks while children are home schooled
The last project completed by Sorrento schoolkids before remote learning started has been ruined. And the principal says her young students will be crushed when they find out what’s been stolen.
South East
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A Bible garden painstakingly researched and planted by Sorrento schoolchildren has been ransacked by thieves.
Plants, including olive and lemon trees, were removed from the garden at St Joey’s Primary School some time in the past week.
Principal Ellie McGuiness said the students would be devastated when they found out their garden was ruined.
“They were really proud of it and will be so upset when they hear that while they were at home doing remote learning someone has come to their school and done this,” Ms McGuiness said.
The front gate to the school is now locked and a sign on the front reads “In stealing plants you have directly affected every student at this school”.
Sustainability teacher Jane Byrne was shocked when she discovered the theft.
“That sort of thing doesn’t happen here very often,” she said.
“I’ve done a lot of work in city schools and you get used to seeing vandalism but we barely have any (graffiti) tags in the area.
“I was shocked and saddened to think someone had come into what was obviously a school, pulled up trees and grasses planted by children and taken them away.”
The Bible Garden was a project between students at the school and St Mary’s Star of the Sea.
Year 5 and 6 children worked with parishioners to research plants that appeared in Bible stories.
Rosebud Bunnings donated the chosen plants and the children planted them with help from the parishioners.
“We actually planted them just as the coronavirus restrictions were beginning,” Ms McGuiness said.
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“The plants went into the ground sooner than we initially planned to get it done before remote learning started.”
Ms McGuiness said some grasses from the school’s indigenous Garden were also stolen.
“We were also really proud of that garden. It was a finalist in the 2019 Tidy Towns Sustainable Community Awards,” she said.