Farms are among the most dangerous workplaces in Australia so the Year 5/6 TAP into Farm Safety unit uses industry personnel to deliver safety messages that are more real and relevant than those delivered by parents or teachers. Our OHS WorkSafe award winning unit is designed to make students and their families think about the environment on farms and in our community and to be aware of the potential dangers that they may face in day to day situations. Ali Dennis from WorkSafe encouraged students to "spot the risks" in a ‘worst practice’ model set up with a Lego farm kit based on actual WorkSafe incidents and fatalities. Students identified hazards and explained how risks could be eliminated or controlled prior to their excursion to a working farm in a fortnight. Ali introduced four rules to help keep them safe on farms; No Seat = No Ride, Just do it – PROPERLY, Look up and live, Work areas are NOT Play areas. She left the students with a farm graphic that had almost as many risks to spot as her Lego farm and with drink bottles and keychains to remind them to stay safe, thanks Ali Our Year 1/2 junior scientists are really exploring the world around them as part of their Schoolyard Safari unit. They were able to carefully observe and draw the features of an earthworm. After watching a clip on witchetty grubs, the 1/2 students used modelling clay to demonstrate their understanding of what it might look like! What a wonderful way to learn about their natural surroundings. Earlier this year, Humanities teacher, Claire Oppermann, and TAP Coordinator, Andrea Vallance, completed a PD with the River Detectives team to learn how to measure and record the health of waterways with their water testing kits. In March, as part of their investigation of local estuaries and waterways, our Our Year 10 Geography students were joined by CCMA’s Regional Citizen Science Project Officer, Deirdre Murphy, and Debbie Dalziel from CVLN at the Trestle Bridge in Timboon to record and measure the waterway at the Curdies River. As there were no timetabled classes to record the water quality this semester, Claire, accompanied by daughter Lennie, recently joined Andrea for a skills refresher to reinforce the importance of monitoring and recording the health of this vital waterway. Junior Landcare is celebrating 25 years of opening children's hearts to Landcare - and to help celebrate, they're calling on kids to write a letter and share what they love most about the environment and how they protect it. To help introduce the ‘Love Letters to the Land with Costa’ literacy sessions, the Year 3/4 students recently undertook a field trip to Power Creek in Timboon learn about our local Heytesbury and District Landcare Network (HDLN). Students were welcomed by Kate Leslie and Lyndell Driscoe from HDLN and Jason Ashwell from the Timboon Field Naturalists to learn about the role of Landcare in helping people actively care for the natural environment in their community. Topics were diverse - from practical activities that Landcare undertakes, the age of some local trees – over 100 years old, shelterbelts, seedlings available in the HDLN nursery, 1 billion bacteria in a teaspoon of healthy soil, signs of life in trees, how Mistletoe spreads, tree hollows vs nesting boxes, using binoculars and magnifying glasses to learn about our environment and we were even joined by two vocal kookaburras! Students were issued a challenge about how they can positively care for their surrounds and Kate asked them to write a letter about their favourite tree and detail why it was special. We were left with the thought that the most important gift that we can give to the environment is our attention. Thanks to our local Landcarians for an inspiring session! The Staff notice board is used to inspire and remind Timboon P-12 teachers of the variety of community engagement options in our wonderful region. References to topical news, events, advertisements or career pathways are used to generate conversations and propose potential curriculum engagement opportunities. What can you TAPify? |
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April 2024
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