Student Development
Discover how Edgefield Primary School nurtures every child through rich experiences, signature programmes, and purposeful spaces that build confidence, character, and a love for learning.
The Secret Garden: Where Play Meets Purpose
Tucked away in a corner of Edgefield Primary that used to be an empty classroom, there's a room our students named, designed and now have to earn their way into. We call it the Secret Garden.
Inside The Secret Garden photos
Entrance to the Secret Garden
Art areas
Relaxation Corners
Relaxation Corners
Photobooth station
Air Hockey station
Claw machine station
A Space Our Students and Edgefield Community Helped Build
The Secret Garden started with a question to our students: what do you want this space to become? They voted on its name, colour scheme and activities, and chose board games, an art corner, a relaxation nook, an air hockey table and a photobooth.
Parents and teachers donated games. Our Principal, Vice Principals and staff helped set up the room. And our Peer Support Leaders (PSLs) did much of the hands-on work, from unpacking parcels to laminating passes, turning it into a space students genuinely call their own.
Unity in Action
Unity in Action (Part 1)
Unity in Action (Part 1)
Unity in Action (Part 2)
Unity in Action (Part 2)
Peer Support Leaders organising games and furniture, unpacking parcels, packing and setting up the Secret Garden room over the course of a few months.
Peer Support Leaders helping out
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Peer Support Leaders helping out (Part 1)
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Peer Support Leaders helping out (Part 2)
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Peer Support Leaders helping out (Part 3)
School Leaders and support staffs in action
Support Staff offering consistent support
School Principals working alongside PSLs
Staffs working togethers
Staffs helping out (Part 1)
Staffs helping out (Part 2)
Learning Responsibility, One Level at a Time
Access to the Secret Garden works on three levels, each asking a little more responsibility from our students.
Level 1- games sit along the canteen corridor, free to play during recess with no supervision needed.
Level 2 - Premium games are loaned out by our PSLs and parent volunteers using Secret Garden passes, a small lesson in borrowing and returning responsibly.
Level 3 – Entry to the Secret Garden itself, is earned. Students collect Star Edgefin stickers for good behaviour, with ten stickers earning three visits, learning that good things are worth waiting for.
10 stickers earned in Student Diary
Students playing arcade games
Students get to bring home toys caught in claw machine
Students get to take polaroid photos at the Photobooth
What We're Seeing in Our Students
Since the Secret Garden launched in 2025, we've given out over 3,000 more Star Edgefin stickers for good behaviour. But the real story is in the small moments: students settling disagreements on their own, Edgefielders packing away games at the end of recess even when they weren't the ones who left the mess, and PSLs flagging issues and suggesting improvements without being asked.
This is Character and Citizenship Education in its most natural form, not a lesson, but a lived experience.
Built on Voice and Choice
The Secret Garden shows what happens when students are given real ownership: real responsibility follows.
