Our Year 7/8 Collaborative Coding science elective class were fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to visit Phil and Symone Vine’s robotic dairy to see world class robotic technology operating in a regional dairy business. Phil and Symone explained that the 300 cows on this farm were milked by 4 robots and that the cows effectively wore ’Fitbits’ that relayed information about their activity including rumination, whether on they were on heat or health indicators such as a decline in activity. The free range cows were directed into different grazing blocks, A,B,C with the option to send them to the large shed, D, during hot or inclement weather. Students learnt that production had increased by 15% and vet bills had halved as the information gained from the cow collars and robots alerted the Vines to early potential problems such as mastitis. Vines also described a new operation that milks 750 cows through 10 robots which has just been established. Phil stressed the need for trainees or technicians to be qualified to service the robots and build technical capacity to work in agriculture, any takers in this innovative new field? 

Our annual Camembert in the Classroom Cheese Appreciation night showcased the learnings undertaken by Year 8 Science students this semester. Students and parents viewed the advertisements produced by students while their cheese was judged by Simon Schulz from Schulz Organic Dairy and Julian Benson owner of Apostle Whey Cheese. Media judges, Bec McAuliffe from Port Campbell Film Society, and Robyn Vale had a difficult time determining the winner of the advertisement challenge as there were many ads which delivered clear and concise messages about dairy. The winning ads were produced by Matisse and Akisha,in 8A while Taj and Taj won the 8B ad competition. After the cheese judging Simon Schulz commended the students on the quality of their cheese and encouraged students to look for the many opportunities available in this region. ‘Blechy Babes’ was the name of the winning cheese by Olive and Tahlia from 8A while ‘Geoffrey’ was the best cheese in 8B and was produced by Conner and Michael. Thank you to the parents and students who participated in the event, with over 70 people in attendance, our judges and Mr Mottram, Mrs Fraser and Ms Allan for this great opportunity.  

​The culmination of the STEP UP! Workshop at TAP’s On! this year was a multi agency incident scenario
featuring local volunteers from the Country Fire Authority (CFA), Ambulance Victoria’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Ambulance Community Officers (ACO) and the State Emergency Services (SES). In the incident scenario, volunteer, Mr Rowbottom was ‘trapped’ in a car while instructors from the various agencies described the scene to the students as it unfolded. The CERT and CFA were first on the scene and made the scene secure and safe before stabilizing the patient. The ACOs worked to treat the trapped patient while the SES volunteers steadied the car prior to gaining access using the Jaws of Life. All agencies then worked to extract the patient from the car using a collar, spine board and vac mat before the patient was loaded on a Striker stretcher to be loaded into an ambulance. It was reinforced that every single one of the 25 people involved in that incident was a volunteer which demonstrated the skills and team work involved in incidents right across the southwest.

​An integral part of this year’s TAP’s On! was the STEP UP workshop which was the focus of our curriculum expo with an exploration of volunteerism in our community. Students in Years Prep - 10 were challenged by Corangamite Shire's 2019 Citizen of the Year,  Donna Ellis, to gain a better understanding of the various volunteer organizations in our region. Students learnt that there were opportunities for them to volunteer across a range of interests including sport, nature, health, Landcare groups, service clubs, animals, welfare organizations and emergency services. Hands on mini workshops facilitated by Ambulance Victoria ACO’s, CERTs and paramedics followed with students learning about calling 000, Stretch the ambulance bear, snakebite bandaging and racing mannequins that taught students how to perform CPR effectively. The CFA workstations included an exploration of a fire truck, how to extinguish an internal fire with a fire blanket, bushfire planning, fire hose bowling and winding. Students learnt about beach safety, how to identify rips, ran in flag races and rowed on Ergo rowing machines at the Port Campbell Surf Life Saving Club’s station. The SES workshop consisted of an examination of their Resus truck, the jaws of life and a demonstration with ropes and slings with various raising and lowering techniques. Over 30 people volunteered their time to make this workshop happen for our students and guests, what an amazing community we live in! Thanks Andrew, Rod, Chris, Dave, Harry, Bryce and Katy for making it happen.

​It’s not often you see a tram conductor, opposite a butcher working to a stopwatch, near farm safety workshops with tractors and animals or a hamburger challenge, in the proximity of a fire truck or a Tourism Maths encounter juxtaposed with a Zombie Disease outbreak simulation or an African Swine Flu threat before being told to “Shut the Duck Up!” .
That doesn’t even include the small engines, brine shrimp, lavender fragrances, taste test challenges, Pillowcase Project, duck tales, transient rock representations, dairy determinings, cheesy ads, delightful floral cards, fluffy chooks or FIshcare 101.The annual TAP’s On! curriculum expo had it all, and even more for students, teachers and visitors.
Just under 500 students from Timboon P-12 School and Nullawarre Primary School participated in a series of peer lead workshops held at Timboon on Thursday in a celebration of the exciting curriculum based around agriculture and community.
A feature was the inclusion of the STEP UP workshops which celebrated volunteer culture with hands on activities facilitated by our local CFA, SES, Port Campbell Life Saving Club and Ambulance Victoria’s Ambulance Community Officers (ACO) and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteers. Students were introduced to the vast array of volunteer organisations available in the southwest before they challenged to STEP UP by rowing Ergo machines, performing CPR in a mannequin race, bowling and rolling up fire hoses, watching the SES demonstrate a cliff ropes rescue and other skills exercises.The event culminated in a multi agency rescue scenario where students and visitors could watch how the SES, CFA and Ambulance Victoria worked together to extract a trapped driver from a crashed car with the 30 volunteers working as an integrated unit. The TAP in 2018/2019 is supported by the Gall, O’Toole and Lane Foundations with TAP’s On! Sponsored by Lochard Energy and Westpac. Thank you to our wonderful student presenters, teachers, mentors, parents, visiting educators, industry and community guests for helping us celebrate TAP's On! 2019 

Our creative Yr. 9-10 Printmaking students have produced a series handmade cards based on a farm animal theme using the tricky reduction lino cut method. They will be available for sale for $4.00 at TAP's On! and later at the main office, as well as Port Campbell Trading Post. All money raised from the sale of these cards will be donated to Rural Aid – Buy a Bale program, to assist drought affected communities. They’d make great Christmas cards!

Our Year 1/2 teachers have created some wonderful ways to display their classes' observations and learnings about 'Mini Beasts'. We definitely have some budding apiarists and entomologists in these classrooms, check them out!!!

Who could resist these gorgeous 'You won't bee-lieve it' invitations produced by the Year 1/2 students and the very 'Moooving' cow cards created by the Year 3/4 students to invite their parents, families, friends, community, industry and educators to TAP's On! 2019 on 21st November from 10.00am -2.00pm. Come and see how we integrate agriculture and community into our P-12 curriculum  with lots of applied learning STEM opportunities supported by our wonderful community in the Southwest. Hope to see you there to help us celebrate National Ag day!

​As part of their Mini Beasts unit the Year 1/2 students are also looking at sustainability so ‘Wrapped with Love” owner Dianne Membery introduced the students to beeswax wraps which can be used in the place of cling wrap or paper. Students learnt that Dianne mixes the wax with jojoba oil and pine resin to help make it flexible and sticky to adhere to the cotton material and food it protects. Dianne demonstrated that the students had to use their ‘super hero muscles’ to grate the wax blocks over cotton material before it was melted in an oven. The students then brushed the wax out evenly over the cotton and proudly took their beeswax wraps home. We were even more ‘wrapt’ to see many beeswax wraps return to school the next day safely holding school lunches. What a buzz!