Today, in the Oak Lawns at the Royal Botanic Gardens, more than 451 students, teachers and parents from 35 Victorian schools, gathered to celebrate school gardening achievements and share the joy of learning through gardens.
The top prize, the Kevin Heinze Perpetual Award went to Montmorency South Primary School, where all 615 students help create and care for gardens spanning a productive, orchard-and-chooks – kitchen garden, bush tucker, native and pollinator plantings, and a bush reserve restoring habitat for local sugar gliders. Students lead the full gardening cycle, with produce feeding into their kitchen garden program and learning from all gardens embedded across the curriculum.
From left: Emma Katsalidis – teacher & garden guru, Nina Taylor – Parliamentary Secretary of Education, Paul Crowe OAM – VSGP Co-founder and Patron, and Montmorency South Primary School students.
In a very close second, State Award finalist Wendouree Primary School was recognised for outstanding, student-driven biodiversity work on its Ballarat grounds, including the planting of more than 1,200 native trees, shrubs and grasses and the creation of rich habitat spaces such as wetlands, frog bogs, nature trails and bush tucker gardens. Their work also supports other schools through shared resources and expertise. Third place State Award finalist, Collingwood College, was celebrated for its long-running kitchen garden program, now in its 24th year, continuing to build student leadership, wellbeing and strong curriculum links in a diverse inner-city community.
Nina Taylor – Parliamentary Secretary of Education with State Finalist, Wendouree Primary School students.
Nina Taylor – Parliamentary Secretary of Education with State Finalist, Collingwood College.
The VSGP is proud of every school that entered this year’s Awards and encouraged by the growing recognition of gardens as powerful spaces for learning, health and wellbeing. We invite all schools in 2026 to consider starting or expanding a garden project: even the smallest patch can make a big difference.
Finally, the VSGP sincerely thanks our 2025 sponsors for their generous support, helping inspire the next generation of gardeners and enabling schools to grow, learn and thrive through their garden programs.
Click here to see 2025 VSGP Award Results