Library News | Junior School

Year 2 has been thinking about how communities and organisations solve problems and support human endeavour and enterprise for their Unit of Inquiry.

During Library lessons we have been looking at the work of Danish landscape architect, Soren Carl Sorensen. He designed the oval gardens of Naerum in 1948 as a way of supporting community engagement and mental well being after the Second World War.

40 oval allotment gardens, each measuring 25 x15m were laid out between public housing on one side, and more traditional houses on the other. Owners were free to position their cottages and select the surrounding hedges and design how their land was to be used.

Car parking was organised so that it was separate from the houses, encouraging the residents to exercise as they walk to their homes and talk to their neighbours. Common meeting areas between the hedges remains part of the design concept that allows for people to gather and catch up and socialise.

Mrs Bargwanna, our Green Patch teacher, came and spoke to us about Sorensen’s design for this community. Her background as a landscape architect was helpful as she provided expert information regarding the design process. Mrs Bargwanna showed the boys the different shapes that Sorensen used in his design for the community and showed examples of where he had used these in other places in Denmark.

The Year 2 boys then used this information to create their own designs for community living.

We are the Gardeners by Joanna Gains and Easy Peasy Gardening for Kids by Kirsten Bradely are a couple of books from the Junior School Library that look at how gardens can be designed and established in your own backyard.

Mrs Nikki Bowden | Teaching and Learning Librarian