Glen Dhu primary is the most recent school to install a hot house, made out of 6000 plastic bottles the school collected. 

Earlier in the year Riverside primary, Invermay primary and Youngtown primary have all installed similar hothouses, which are made in My Pathway, a Work for the Dole project.

The project offers the structures to schools as a flat pack to help teach students about sustainability and recycling. 

The participants of the My Pathway program are taught woodworking and other skills needed to construct the hothouses.

The program has been a huge success, with some participants staying on after completing their work for the dole. 

For Youngtown Primary the hothouse is the latest addition to a thriving outdoor classroom that teaches students a range of skills from horticulture to cooking. 

What started as a fenceline full of tangled blackberries has been transformed into a productive garden, tended by the school’s students. 

Youngtown Primary outdoor classroom teacher Brad Colson said the garden aims to be entirely self sufficient and the hothouse takes them a step closer to that goal. 

“It’s pretty much a self-sufficient garden, in that what we grow we keep replanting,” he said.

The greenhouse allows them to propagate their own seeds earlier in the year, meaning they won’t have to buy seedlings. 

​“It certainly increases our growing season, particularly with the frosts and stuff through winter we can start getting stuff up,” Mr Colson said. 

Students take part in all aspects of maintaining the garden, as well as harvesting and using the produce to cook with. 

Youngtown student Maggie Robins said the outdoor class is her favourite class. 

“I like how we go outdoors and we do a lot of different things each week, so we’re not just stuck on the same thing and we learn a lot of new things,” Maggie said. 

The move to outdoor learning is a global trend, with research showing improved learning outcomes in children that spend time outside. 

An Early Learning Australia paper said, “Outdoor learning environments that promote children’s connections with nature and sustainability are engaging spaces for children and educators.”

There are physical, cognitive and psychological benefits to outdoor classrooms and also help develop skills like problem solving and improved social interaction.