2020…officially this was the Chinese Year of the Rat, but it really was the Year of the Big Black Swan!
Under the Timboon Agriculture Project (TAP) banner we still worked hard to engage with our industry and community partners this year welcoming over 32 people into our classes either in person or remotely.
People as diverse as an apothecary, whiskey/hand sanitizer producer, agronomists, cheesemakers, a paramedic, sheepfarmers, Tourist Information Officer, firebombing pilot, multi talented dairyfarmers, local and state politicians, a biosecurity officer, excavator/skidsteer operators, a Victorian Police Forensic Investigator, a goat farmer, managerial changemakers in a COVID environment from the Midfield group, a helicopter pilot and a local marine biologist / mermaid.
We still celebrated some amazing achievements including the 2019 TAPs ON! STEP UP! volunteer expo that was awarded the Victorian Resilient Australia School Award, and STEP UP! was Highly Commended in the National Resilient Australia Awards in Canberra. The TAP was an integral part of the Weekly Times Community Heart Award and it was commended across Australia as a best practice example of parent and family strategies to support children in career education.
Our students shone winning several Victorian and national awards including the Year 7/8 Hermitage Plant Science Award, Cheese your own Creation, Curds and Why and the Water it. Grow it. Cook it Award, while students across Years P-10 tackled  the Tough Udder challenge!
Despite the curve ball 2020 threw at us, it was great to see the way the school community was able to come together, even remotely, and be a part of our TKR - Timboon Kitchens Rule family iso challenge.  Once again, thank you to our school community for your ongoing support of the TAP.                                                              

The Year 7/8 Step Up Program has been an excellent way for students to build strong relationships with classmates and a good connection to Timboon P-12 School this year. The focus has been on upskilling students with a hands on approach to learning and demonstrating that these skills can be utilized to aid our community. Our students have built new seating for the school grounds and, as a TAP community connection, have partnered with Alan Kerr and the Timboon Rail Trail Committee to produce and install four new seats for Rail Trail patrons along a two km stretch of trail. Thank you to Alan and Mr Mackieson for helping with the installation but mostly to Mr Bell and students for creating these wonderful resources for our community. The students and teachers then joined Alan celebrating their accomplishments with a well deserved treat from Timboon Fine Ice Cream. ​

When offered an opportunity to take on the Tough Udder Challenge during their 'Christmas Fun Day'  the Year 7-9s students were very keen! As they raced around the course the students had to work in teams of 4 and use various strategies to complete the different tasks which included a gumboot throw, silage spool relay, water cartage, snake bite bandaging, hay bale climb, reel run, breakfast time, and a chook yard puzzle crawl before they reached the slip n slide station. ​Thanks to Mr Whitehead, Miss Costelloe, Mrs Mackenzie, Michelle Fowler and students who acted as marshals, Jo Moncrieff and Brad Hain who coordinated the snake bite activity and congratulations to Ms Whitworth and students who enthusiastically took on the Tough Udder challenge.

​Over the last few days it has become apparent that our school lavender crop needed to be picked FAST as this season’s florets looked amazing in a sea of purple across the top of the lavender bushes. Ms Wakefield’s fears were allayed when an army of Year 9 students descended on the crop and handled the scythes, secateurs and battery driven hedge trimmers with great efficiency and skill. The students collected bunches of Pacific Blue and Avice Hill to dry for lavender products next year and the Riverina Alan florets were gathered to produce lavender oil. Thanks to the very capable students and teachers involved as Ms Wakefield began distilling oil as the cut lavender pile grew and the students even pruned and hedged up the plants once the blossoms were collected. Great effort Wakesie and guys!

This week, as the Victorian winner of the Resilient Australia School Award, we were invited to participate in the 2020 Resilient Australia Awards at the Museum of Australia in Canberra. Our entry, ‘STEP UP!’ based on the 2019 TAP’s On! volunteer expo, was Highly Commended in the National School Award and was awarded by the Emergency Management Minister, the Hon David Littleproud MP. ​ The Winner of the National Resilient Australia School Award was Thuringowa State School, Queensland with it’s project, ‘Disaster Resilience for a Changing Climate Grand Challenge’.Their project was created the aftermath of the 2019 North Queensland Monster Monsoon, when students across Queensland connected through a virtual platform in collaboration with the Townsville City Council, James Cook University and other organisations to help build climate challenge resilience. As representatives of Timboon P-12 School and the TAP, we are extremely grateful and proud of little ol Timboon’s inclusion in the Resilient Australia Awards and that STEP UP! was acknowledged at national level. We would like to once again celebrate all of our volunteers, past and present who are an integral part our school community.  

One of the challenges in the Year 10 Tough Udder course required individuals to army crawl under bird netting to retrieve single pieces of a puzzle and return to their team to reassemble the pieces. The challenge was made more complicated as there were three different puzzles in each tub with images and messaging inspired by the Great South Coast Food and Fibre Group about careers and opportunity in the #GreatSouthCoastFood&Fibre. Check them out! 

As COVID disrupted our usual Year 10 Urban Camp this year, we thought we’d give students an opportunity to celebrate the completion of their Year 10 studies. During the day’s activities, leadership roles were encouraged as we challenged students with a TAP Tough Udder course and a chance to participate in ‘agricultural’ team building activities. Teams of four students completed circuits of activities such as snake bite bandaging, hay bale climb, pivot tyre flip, reel run, gumboot throw, slip n slide under a fence, breakfast time, silage spool relay, water cartage and a puzzle it out station. Thanks to Mr Whitehead, Miss Costelloe, Mr Shanks, Mrs Dyer and Mrs Mackenzie and students who acted as marshals, Jo Moncrieff and Michael Brittain who coordinated the snake bite activity and congratulations to the students who whole heartedly tackled the obstacles in their way.  Congratulations to Ned, Mitchell, Iagan and Lewis who won the Year 10 'Tough Udder' Trophy. 

​Continuing their studies of Essential Energy, the Year 5/6 students are learning about various forms of non-renewable energy and comparing these with renewable sources of energy. Students are learning how energy can be mobilized and stored and discussed community choices regarding the generation and use of energy. The trainee engineers were then challenged to design and create their own water turbine or waterwheel to lift a small weight. Check out their results! 

Just because our Year 3/4 students couldn’t visit a sheep farm to investigate procedural writing due to COVID restrictions, it doesn’t mean we can’t bring a farm into the classroom! Thanks to Marilyn and Richard Gristede our students were able to watch a fleece’s transition from lamb to wool bale through a series of videos produced by the Gristedes. Students practiced observing, note taking, drawing a flow diagram and produced a report to demonstrate their understanding of the processes involved. What a wonderful living classroom our students are a part of!