Students Create Sensory Garden at Christadelphian Aged Care

A group of high school students have created a sensory garden in just two days much to the delight of residents at Christadelphian Aged Care - Courtlands in North Parramatta. 

The group of seven Year 10 girls from Model Farms High School in Baulkham Hills took on the project as part of the Helmsman Project, which aims to build life skills in young people through an adventure program and community engagement.

The students were required to plan and carry out a project that would benefit the community in some way, and chose to build a garden at Courtlands.

"It was about seeing what we are capable of and pushing boundaries," participant Moji said.

The group worked together to determine what plants would be best suited for the area and appreciated by the residents.

They planted a range of herbs, vegetables and other fragrant plants the students thought the residents would enjoy.

There are also gnomes and other garden decorations such as an owl, birds, lizards and insects.

"We wanted the plants the resident could feel different textures of and smell. The whole point of it was it had to benefit the community, but it had to be long-lasting and bring it to life," Moji said.

"It’s a sensory garden, but also one that is accessible to people in wheelchairs and one that the residents themselves can also maintain."

After planning the garden the students set aside four days in the school holidays to work on it, but after days of rain they ended up doing most of the work in just two days. 

The warm smiles on the faces of residents made the project all the more worthwhile, the students said.

"At the start the residents had their curtains closed, but by the last day they were looking out and called for the nurses to open their curtains so they could see what we had been doing," Moji said.

Click here to find out more about Christadelphian Aged Care.