Connection and Contemplation: UWCSEA's Allotment Gardening Programme
By Ashima Thomas, Communications and Marketing, UWCSEA
9 April 2026
The Community Allotment Gardening Programme at UWCSEA Dover launched in October 2024 and has fast become a busy hub for learning, connection and more.
Ee Peng Ang, Environmental Sustainability Technician, UWCSEA Dover works with students.
The project was established with support from a generous UWCSEA family and initially designed by students from the ‘Incredible Edibles’ Service group. They started with five Vegepods (portable raised garden beds) located at the Green Heart, and soon had to expand to 10 due to high demand. This offered ample opportunity for both novice and seasoned gardeners to get their hands dirty.
Bringing Community Together
The project has attracted students, parents, teachers and staff of all ages, gardening together and sharing their accomplishments, skills and tips. One of our youngest gardeners, Hanson, Grade 7, UWCSEA Dover, has worked in the gardens as part of the Middle School Sustainability Committee.
“What captivates me most about gardening is witnessing seeds quietly awaken in the soil, ultimately transforming ordinary routines into vibrant fruits and landscapes,” he says.
Hans, Grade 6, UWCSEA Dover, at the Allotment Garden where he is growing a pumpkin.
Butter, a Grade 11 scholar, fully embraced her role as the student leader of the 'Incredible Edibles' Service group and took one Vegepod under her care. Her success growing pea shoots and radishes has had a big impact on her: “Gardening is not only about harvesting. It's a chance for you to learn things from nature and cherish the meaning of life.”
Butter, Grade 11, UWCSEA Dover, and Danye, a Dover parent, work together in the Allotment Garden.
Butter sometimes gardens alongside Danye, a Dover Campus parent who harvests salad leaves for her family meals on most afternoons. “I’m really grateful for this opportunity to continue my passion for planting within the UWCSEA community," says Danye. "My boys also get to experience nature firsthand, learning to appreciate and respect it through my little plot (Plot 4). We’ve all been enjoying the 100% organic and fresh vegetables, adding them to noodles, burgers, salads, and even hot pots and stir-fried dishes!”
Danye shared that the Allotment Garden offered a welcome escape to a calming space when she was going through a tough time recently. This is one of the many hidden benefits the garden provides our community—a restorative setting that boosts wellbeing.
“I like the quietness and calmness of the space,” says Enqi Peh, Librarian, UWCSEA Dover. “Sometimes I walk over there to look at the plants when I’m taking a break from work.”
Staff Sow Seeds Together
Enqi is part of a group of Librarians who are the caretakers of two Vegepods. Tending to their plants has helped to relieve stress and bond the team.
“The garden space opens up conversations that I wouldn't normally have with my library team," shared Angie Erickson, Head of Libraries, UWCSEA Dover. "When we are working together, I learn more about their lives and the things they care about, which I hadn't anticipated in those short muddy moments before school starts.”
The UWCSEA Dover Librarians look after two Vegepods.
How the Garden will Grow
The garden has already provided a bounty of benefits for our community, with more to follow. The College is planning to hold workshops for parents and staff to learn how to grow cuttings and increase plant growth. Plus, more local species and herbs will be grown to increase biodiversity—all possible with support from UWCSEA’s Environmental Sustainability Technicians.
The garden also has several links to the Academic programme through the Grade 2 unit, ‘How Does Your Garden Grow’, the Grade 5 Expo theme, ‘It’s In Our Hands’, and the new Grade 9 and 10 unit about Sustainable Nutrition that involves students harvesting campus-grown herbs for meal planning.
Not only is it a source of fresh, organic vegetables for family dinners, the Community Allotment Garden is encouraging connection across grades and roles, providing a classroom for observation, discovery, and learning new skills, and it offers a tranquil retreat open to all on Dover Campus.
UWCSEA Parents attend a 'grow your own herbs' workshop for Chinese speakers at the Allotment Garden at Dover Campus.
UWCSEA Middle School students work in the Allotment Garden at Dover Campus.
We look forward to sharing more ways for you to get involved as this programme brings the Green Heart and our sustainability goals to life. Learn more about our giving priorities here.