Our community partnerships are a real feature of the TAP which has allowed one of the largest employers in the region, Saputo Dairy Australia, to host our VCAL students and run them through a mini site induction and plant tour. Prior to the visit students had to confirm that they read and understood the induction documents and procedures provided by Saputo Recruitment Coordinator Taylor Collins. On site, Taylor outlined her career path and described her role in recruiting for Saputo. She, and the other team members explained that they hired on attitude rather than skill, to do research on the business or position you are interviewing for, to be genuine and to engage in the interview. Gerard Lourey, The Operations Manager (Western Region) explained that the Allansford Saputo plant employed over 800 people with up to 1 billion litres of milk through the plant in year and over $800 million dollars in sales. Gerard explained that he wasn’t a keen student but after a variety of roles he has found one that he loved and happily went back to study obtaining a degree in Dairy Technology. He challenged students to find a passion and a good career will arise from it and stressed that it was important to enjoy your job, have fun at work and return home to your family safely at night. Deb Stokes, the OH & S Coordinator, explained that the processing plant was not dissimilar to her earlier position at a gas plant with the main hazards being chemicals, having to isolate electricity, the release of energy, large equipment or mobile plant moving and keeping the environment spotlessly clean as it is a food processing plant. Induction activities on site included initially working with a buddy, manual handling training, shifting activities every 20 minutes, being aware of fatigue and a zero tolerance attitude to drugs or alcohol in the workplace. Students were also taken on a site tour to the cheese making plant and the milk bottling area where they could see these safety features implemented. 

As part of our TAP links into community and industry and to help our Year 7/8 Eco Warriors learn more about their environment, we invited Fishcare Facilitator, Mitch McMaster, into the classroom to prepare students for a fishing session at Boggy Creek later in the term. Mitch described his career path which included studying Marine Biology at Deakin University at Warrnambool and lots of volunteering with groups like the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority (CCMA) before becoming a regional Fishcare Educator. He outlined three main fishing rules for recreational fishers which included a minimum size limit, a maximum bag limit and a maximum size limit and students discussed the rationale behind these different rules. Students learnt about the various types of fishes that could be caught in regional rivers, dams, along the shoreline and at sea. Mitch instructed students on how to tie a Half Blood Knot to secure their fishing hooks and told them their results were “knot bad”. After their invasive pests investigation earlier in the year students were well prepared to learn about the damage that invasive species, whether they be international or non native to a specific area, could do to an ecosystem. They learnt how to safely remove a fish hook and handle a fish with wet hands or a wet tea towel if it was to be caught and released or breached the fishing regulations. The lesson concluded with a large carp puzzle which helped students identify and understand a fish’s features such as mouth type, eye, barbels, gills, pectoral fin, lateral line, dorsal fin, caudal fin, anal fin, pelvic fin and scales. Happy fishing!

Whilst exploring Mini Beasts the Year 1/2 class have turned their attention to snails as the wet weather has provided lots of opportunities for students to follow their snail trails to track them down. The snails were carefully examined by eye and then using a microscope to learn about their features. These will be recoded and then compared and contrasted with worm. What an exciting word of Mini Beasts!

Once again our Year 8 science students have studied the science of caseiculture, which is the craft of making cheese while culturing their own Camembert cheese under the watchful eye of Mr Mottram. Students learnt about the importance of hygiene in cheese making, the types of milk used, the various cultures required to make cheese, the time and precision it takes for the cheese to cure and the unit gave students the opportunity to be involved in a real-life, hands-on science project. Milk provided by Apostle Whey Full Cream Milk was used for two big cheese making days and students have produced cheeses that have been brined and turned in preparation for our family Cheese Appreciation evening on 26th November- can't wait!

​Not happy with just collecting examples of living things, our Prep students have decided to grow their own living things and looked to fairytales for inspiration. After learning about the bean seeds in Jack and the Beanstalk, students planted bean seeds with giant’s castles already built in the clouds. Let’s see how long it takes for the beans to reach the clouds!

Situated in a school catchment that includes the 12 Apostles and Hinterland, the Great Ocean Road, innovative producers and makers in creative food and fibre businesses it is understandable why our region features on the Bucket List of many Australian and international visitors. The Year 5/6 TAP into Tourism maths unit is based on the energy and excitement in our  area as it punches well above it's weight with award winning produce, gourmet treats and unforgettable experiences for the most discerning traveler. Mark Cuthell from Port Campbell Visitor Information Centre introduced the Year 5/6 teachers to the maths potential behind this data and the chance to apply real life maths skills. Our students will be challenged to investigate the opportunities in our region as they budget for a family holiday in the South West and then collate data to determine what opportunities there may be for them and our region in the future based on the spending habits of tourists. Can't wait to see the results! 

​The Year Prep students have continued their scientific exploration of how things grow by exploring the school environment to learn about the structure of plants. Dressed in their lab coats and armed with their leaf clipboards, students carefully collected parts of plants including leaves, stems, roots, branches and flowers. These were taken back into the classroom where they were recorded in the students’ workbooks and labelled accordingly. Brilliant botanists in the making!  

Once again our Year 7/8 students were fortunate enough to host ex Timboon P12 student, Sean Lenehan, and Dr Blake Allan, the Chief Remote Pilot for Deakin University into the classroom as part of their Science elective, Collaborative Coding. Sean outlined the different categories applied to drone licences such as recreational, excluded and commercial with different restrictions and requirements involved in operating drones in various regions. Sean provided examples of his photography and videos including landscapes as evidenced in his Sean Lenehan Photography business. Blake explained that his career path began with an interest in environmental science and that he was now able to partner that with drone technology. Students learnt about Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in aerial mapping and the citizen science monitoring project to record changes in our coastline. Drones are used in agriculture to provide orthomosaicas,3D volumetrics, time-series analysis based on high-accuracy UAV data, and multispec with thermal imaging in vegetation analysis, agriculture, wildlife monitoring and arboriculture. Blake and Sean then introduced students to mini indoor Tello drones that students could pilot in the classroom as they investigate the potential coding opportunities with this technology. ​

More than 250 “Grey Nomads” have descended on Warrnambool and surrounds as part of the Australian Caravan Club National Muster. Hosts, Pam and Terry Hawkins, invited 50 members of the Caravan Club to visit Timboon where they were welcomed to Timboon P-12 School by Principal, Davin Reid. The TAP (Timboon Agriculture Project) was showcased and visitors learnt that this  industry and community engagement model had over 400 people being involved with curriculum development since it’s inception in 2012. Students described their studies of natural disasters, bushfires, local volcanoes, farm safety, the Pillowcase Project, duck stories featuring Greg Clarke, Healthy Bones, Healthy Body, Week of Tastes and visitors toured the TAP lavender farm where they were able to purchase goods produced by the students. “I wish we had something like this when I was at school!” was a common exclamation by the caravanners. Thanks for visiting and safe travels