Sharing experiences of the observable movement of the sun and moon in our sky, the Year 5/6 students have recently been learning how the planets in our solar system orbit the sun and the moons orbit the planets. The classroom learning was reinforced as students could refer to moon charts provided by Peter Hickman from the Warrnambool Astronomy Nights group to check out the full moon in the night sky. Mini OREO biscuits were used in an assessment task to recreate the phases of the moon with icing scraped off to replicate the waxing and waning phases. The classes also discussed how the Southern and Northern Hemisphere moon phases are opposite on the same evening and that March and September equinoxes are the start of a new season as spring turns into winter in our hemisphere and the opposite occurs in the northern hemisphere. Students have been busy learning about Food Safety , Personal Hygiene, Safe work practices and dealing with Emergency situations. The group come from multiple schools in our cluster/ region, Terang College, Mortlake P-12 School, Camperdown College, Lavers Hill P-12 and our own wonderful Timboon P-12 Students. They look very professional in their uniforms, stay tuned to see them working in and around our school to gain valuable experience in the Hospitality Industry - Gabby Theologous Our Lid to Art aquatic undersea mural experience has begun! Inspired by a focus on sustainability and recycling, Mrs Mackieson and junior students have designed, painted and commenced work on a mural that uses bottle tops, lids, recycled tiles and found materials to depict a healthy underwater habitat. The project is a example of how how art can be used to describe society and document images and ideas in a graphic manner so it's message is available to all viewers of all abilities. This project will encourage students to work with their peers and to encourage conversations that would not necessarily take place, in this instance about healthy marine habitats, recycling, sustainability and our role in creating change to reduce waste. Our mural will be showcased at Crayfest on 27th March as part of our School float alongside junior students with their creative marine creatures designed by Ms Fox and Ms Podbury. The mural will then take pride of place in a outdoor learning space at Timboon P-12 School. We are grateful to the South West Community Foundation for granting us funds to create our community art pieces. Who knew that plastic lids could have such an impact! We were approached by local environmentalist, restauranter, community builder and educator, Kylie Treble, who has created a permaculture garden, The Place of Wonder, and a Port Campbell restaurant, REAL. Kylie contacted the school leadership about working with a group of students with the aim of conducting local environmentally restorative projects as deemed relevant by the participating students. Kylie wants to use her expertise to share the investment in what we can do collectively, to generate conversations to enable students to start thinking about the world around them and to start to unravel the potential in what the students can do, solve or create. All students from Years 7 - 12 are welcome to join this group so please come along Tuesday lunch times (in L2) to help improve the space in which we live. This is a project focused group aimed at applying regenerative actions for the greater good. Think. Learn. Act. Your environment, your space, need YOU! Tuesdays will be really interesting around here... During first term our Year 9 students were investigating ecosystems and learning how bees are impacted by changes in their environment as part of their Melittology studies. Students had to explore an issue and produce a poster to demonstrate their learning about topics such as loss of habitat, human use of pesticides on plants, weeds and grasses, extreme weather and seasonal changes and pathogens / parasites Our Year 11 VCAL Literacy students have been tasked with analysing an area which interests them, an area where they are making a difference and had to produce a persuasive essay on the sustainability of their chosen field. Students were asked to address topics such as, ‘Timboon students making a difference – for everyone’, ‘21st Century Students – putting sustainability into practice’ or ‘Sustainable students’. Students’ essays addressed the sustainability of farming and machinery, construction sustainability, aquaculture, plantation timber industry, sustainability on farms, firewood, plastic on farms, old vs new cars and sustainable practices in the make up industry. Check out excerpts of these essays that will be included in our ‘TAPping into Community’ display at Crayfest Our Year 7/8 and 9/10 Step Up students have taken the lead on the design and construction of our school Kitchen Garden. The school garden will be an integral platform to teach students about taste and learn about healthy food, how to grow fruit and vegetables and will serve to promote better nutritional habits. The Step Up program is designed with a focus on re engaging students who do not work well in a traditional classroom setting and to encourage attendance at school by providing applied learning opportunities. The program allows these students to 'give back' or contribute to their school or community by combining practical skills and teamwork towards a collaborative goal. Recently the team were hard at work cleaning up and doing foundation work for the site with Brent Oberin from Australian Ecosystems Sustainable Landscapes. Once established, this outdoor classroom area will be used for multi year level classes and cross curricular activities to benefit the whole Timboon P-12 School and community. We acknowledge and appreciate the support of Denise Murray and the Corangamite Shire Environmental Support Grant program to help us with our school kitchen garden. Watch this space!! As COVID curtailed our community art experiences in 2021, our South West Community Foundation supported ‘TAP into Banksy’ mural did not eventuate. Fortunately, the South West Community Foundation are backing another project, our ‘From Lid 2 Art’ Crayfest Mural. Crayfest is a celebration of the Port Campbell and surrounds marine environment on 27th March and is a regional event acknowledging the importance of our environment, sustainability, recycling and community – especially our volunteers. Timboon P-12 School students and families have been collecting multicoloured bottle caps for the last 2 years with conversations in classrooms and art room about debris and plastics that end up in the ocean and our environment. Last year, marine biologist Hannah Maloney informed the Year 3/4 students that if we are not careful there will soon be more plastics than fish in our oceans. Our bottle lid marine environment scene will be unveiled at Crayfest and will then be mounted at Timboon P-12 School in an outdoor learning space that can be assessed by our local community as a constant reminder of our responsibility to protect our marine environment. Watch this space for more updates! To gain practical experience, and learn from experts who develop and pair different flavour combinations, our Year 7/8 Plant Science elective students visited Josh Walker from the Timboon Railway Shed Distillery and Caroline Simmons, proprietor of Timboon Fine Ice Cream. Students learnt that Josh starts creating the drinks’ flavours based on local barley, strawberry or lemon while Caroline’s flavours begin with local cream and milk. Josh described the aging process where whiskey is stored in charred wine barrels that lend their caramelized flavour to the final product and the way the dining menu is designed so that meals, such as their current mussel dish, is paired with a product, Christies Cut, a single malt whiskey. Josh and Caroline described how various flavour combinations are trialed and tested to create a balance or to confuse or challenge the taste buds such as the sweetness of caramel combined with salt with both nominating strange flavour combinations that worked and some that didn’t. Josh described the inclusion of native flavours including Tasmanian pepper berry and lemon myrtle in the gin and students noted the ‘lemonade icy pole’ scent of the lemon myrtle. As a collaboration with Worn Gundidj, Timboon Fine Ice cream have developed two native flavour ice creams, wattleseed and strawberry gum, that students were fortunate enough to taste test and discuss. Works by local indigenous artist, Emma Stenhouse, provided a perfect backdrop to record our students’ exploration of native flavours. What a wonderful supportive community we live in, thanks Josh and Caroline! To help promote Crayfest, tie in with wonderful marine flavours and learn how indigenous people gathered and cooked local marine life, our Year 7/8 Native Foods Plant Science students welcomed into their classroom, abalone diver AJ Quarrell and eel fisherman Zac Taylor. AJ explained that he always loved the ocean and is fortunate to work in his own business, Great Ocean Abalone, that prides itself on harvesting fresh produce for regional consumption and also exports product overseas, mainly to Asia. Students learnt how AJ prises abalone from rocks and reefs and has to follow his license conditions to ensure the sustainability of local abalone. He explained that early indigenous people living in coastal areas used to forage in rockpools and that abalone and seafood was part of their diet. AJ described abalone as having a sweet / salty flavour and it is often part of a multi course meal as consumed by other nationalities. Zac, from Paaratte Eel Company, usually sets his eel nets in the Gellibrand and Curdies Rivers and is most successful when there is a high tide as the eels migrate out to sea. He used to smoke and produce his own eel products but now he supplies a mainly domestic market with 18 other registered eel fishermen. Showcasing the eel nets that he makes himself, and describing the oily taste of eels, Zac outlined how eels are caught and students watched a Landline story on ‘Eel Tagging’ introduced by Zac that traced the story of the eel traps at Budj Bim which is one of the world’s finest examples of early aquaculture and engineering. Students also watched a clip featuring crayfisherman Simon Nash from Port Campbell Lobster called, 'The life of a fisherman'. AJ described how Crayfest was created to raise awareness of how fortunate we are to live in this part of the world and be able to harvest such local, healthy marine life in a sustainable manner right in our backyard. Thanks AJ and Zac, a great session! |
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April 2024
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