This important legacy project fosters children's understanding of cultivating their own food and is a source of pride for the Society

Orchards in Schools 2023

Join the Orchards in Schools whanau in 2025

We will be establishing new orchards from June and welcome new schools within Christchurch city. Contact orchards@chsgardens.co.nz for application details.

Canterbury school students are swapping screens for spades and learning how to grow and care for trees.
Listen to the article on Radio New Zealand from Country Life, 9:45 pm on 7 September 2018  - Let's get planting: school orchards for Canterbury's junior gardeners

Orchards in Schools Podcast
Schools involved in the Orchards in Schools Programme featured in a podcast episode aired on Plains FM 96.9. Listen Here

The CHS Orchards in Schools Programme provides traditional life long skills and food resilience.

The programme is now in its 10th year, with 47 schools within the greater Christchurch area involved. 

Orchards in Schools highlights where food comes from by providing a connection to food production. Through exploring nature and its processes (e.g. pollination) tamariki will understand the interconnected role of every living thing. The practical, outdoors, hands on style of the programme suits a broad range of learners.

The programme helps schools identify a suitable location within the school grounds, provide the fruit trees, support teachers and caretakers, provide a trained teacher who works alongside students to maintain their orchard with two visits a year. All sessions are outside in the orchard observing and interacting with the trees; from dissecting blossoms and thinning fruit to learning how to handle tools and pruning the trees appropriately. The programme can be tailored to any age from new entrants to high school horticultural students.

Participating Schools

  • 2025: Include your school for planting next year, contact us now
  • Planted 2023: Clarkville Te Kura Ki Waimātao, Te Waka Unua School at the Climate Action Campus and Te Tihi o Kahukura.
  • Planted 2022: Cashmere Primary, Hornby Primary, Ngutuawa School, Seven Oaks Primary School and Seven Oaks Secondary School
  • Planted 2021: Rowley School, Redwood School, Templeton School, Paparoa Street School, Bromley School, Halswell Residential College and Somerfield School.
  • Planted 2020: Belfast School (Jrn), Hillmorton High School, Kaiapoi North School, Kirkwood Intermediate, Cashmere High  and Knights Stream School.
  • Planted 2019 Breens Intermediate, Bishopdale School, Wigram School, Marshland School.
  • Planted 2018: Burnside Primary School, Hornby High, South Hornby School, Russley School and Avonhead School.
  • Planted 2017: Isleworth School, Tūora Fendalton School, Wairakei Primary School, Elmwood Normal Primary School and Chisnallwood Intermediate.
  • Planted 2016: Waitakiri Primary School, Rāwhiti School, Riccarton Primary School, Wharenui School, Casebrook Intermediate and Kaiapoi Borough School.
  • Planted 2015: St Martins School, Gilberthorpe School, Northcote School, Addington School, Heathcote Valley School and Oaklands School.

Canterbury Horticultural Society would like to thank the Rata Foundation for their previous project grant and CHS Members for their donations. A project like this wouldn't be possible without volunteers, teachers and support staff, who all help to make the project successful.

Southern Woods & Waimea Nurseries supplied the quality trees.