Cross Curriculum Priorities

Welcome to the May edition of news from the Cross Curriculum Coach …

The Australian Curriculum identifies three cross curriculum priorities:

Sustainability

Aboriginal Cultures and Histories

Australia’s Engagement with Asia

Sustainability

Garden Busy Bee

A garden busy bee was held on Sunday 3 May, 10am-5pm. Our fabulous volunteers worked

in the bushland adjacent to the car park. They covered weeds with newspaper and spread

wood chips. Other garden tasks completed included cleaning out the green house,

additional planting in the butterfly garden, tidying up the herb garden and preparing the

Kindy bed next to the Kwobadarn.

Sincere thanks to the following families:

Bowes – Rowena, Hannah & Emma

Hadfield – Nick, Emma, Tayla & Chloe

Neri – Vanessa & Orla

Syme – Andrew, Anne, Elizabeth & Georgia

Tanner – Leonie & Alice; Hallam – Tom & Peter

Your outstanding support was greatly appreciated. Many thanks to all our busy bees! Some

bees buzzed the whole day, so their huge commitment was exceptional. Sincere thanks.

New GHG Emissions Reduction Plan Underway: 200 Tonne Plan!

In recent years we completed 10, 50 and 100 Tonne Plans to reduce emissions of GreenHouse Gases

(GHG) to the atmosphere. After months of school wide consultation, the new Greenhouse Gas

emissions reduction plan has an amazing target: 200 tonnes!

The 200 Tonne Plan is a project to reduce emissions of Greenhouse Gases to the atmosphere by 200

tonnes.

The Upside Down Thermometer represents our 200 Tonne Plan. Each can on the thermometer

represents 20 tonnes of Greenhouse Gases. Cans will be removed from the thermometer as we

make progress towards our 200 tonne target.

We are reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions by our:

School solar panels

Solar lanterns for our Solar Sister schools in Uganda

Tree planting

Composting and worm farming

Recycling paper and cardboard

Recycling aluminium cans, batteries and tooth care products

Recycling lawn clippings and coffee grounds

Using water from our rainwater tanks

Joining the Walking School Bus and supporting TravelSmart days

These actions help us to achieve our target … and move us closer to becoming a carbon positive

school, our ultimate goal!

Boya notes will be printed to reward progress on the 200 Tonne Plan. Boyas can be used at our

garden stalls, the canteen and some shops.

Please support our new 200 Tonne Plan! Every time you are wastewise, waterwise, travelsmart,

energysmart, do gardening or plant trees you are making progress towards our new target. Thank

you to all 200 tonne supporters!

Eco Footprint

1. Biodiversity Action:

New Early Childhood Garden Bed

Students from ELC4 helped create a new garden bed. They added layers to the raised bed

and planted carrots, spring onions, lettuce, radish, thyme and rocket.

The wooden garden bed, compost, mulch and seeds were

generously donated to the school by Bunnings. Sincere thanks

to Kirsty Green, Activities Officer from Bunnings, who delivered

these items and supported the initiative. Thanks also to our

parent helpers.

Check out the garden to see how much they have grown in a

month!

Butterfly Garden

Our butterfly garden is thriving. More butterfly attracting shrubs were planted during the

busy bee and the seedlings in the butterfly plant greenhouse will be ready to plant out soon.

With all this care our butterfly garden will be spectacular in a few months …

River Rangers

Bat Boxes

An environmental consultant, Joe Tonga, is conducting bat box workshops with our

Year 6 and 4 students (Rms 7, 5 & 3). The students are learning about the importance

of bats in our ecosystem and taking action to conserve them by constructing the bat

boxes for our bushland.

This unit of work is part of Technology studies. Students are examining the properties of different

materials used in the construction of the boxes, as well as the stages in the design process.

Bushland Research

Year 6 students are continuing their research, regularly

monitoring their quadrats, observing and photographing the

impact of the January fire.

The students will be making a book on the bushland during

June. This is a very exciting project that demonstrates how

the Sustainability and Aboriginal Cross Curriculum Priorities

are embedded into Literacy, Science and Geography.

Quadrat showing regrowth of grass trees …

Garden Club

The Tuesday lunchtime gardening club continues to be a

great success. Students choose to engage in gardening

activities during their lunchtime break. Over the last few

weeks they have been weeding, preparing raised beds

for planting and planting. All this work happens in a

very friendly social context.

Many thanks to our enthusiastic gardeners!

Animal Encounters

Kaarakin, the Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre, visited our school at the start of this term.

Kaarakin volunteers conducted a presentation on the biology and habitat needs of black cockatoos.

This incursion, for classes in PP/Yr 1 and Years 3/4 & 4, was part of their bushland studies, integrated

into Literacy and Science.

Year 6 River Rangers visited Herdsman Lake Wildlife Centre

recently too. They observed frogs, an oblong turtle, lizards

and many more creatures …

Kitchen Aromas

Our Kwobadarn kitchen has been full of enticing aromas lately.

Kindy and Year 2 students made muffins for Mother’s Day

celebrations. Other classes have been cooking mixtures for

science activities and making fruit salad.

Year 1 student from ELC1 preparing fruit salad …

Volunteers

Special thanks to our Sustainability volunteers this term:

Gardening: Leonie Tanner and Tom Hallam

Garden produce stall: Leonie Tanner

Kitchen: Sophia Dimovski, Barbara Makrides and Grace Reeson

These helpers make a huge contribution to the running of our education programs. Sincere thanks.

If you would like to volunteer in any area of the Cross Curriculum Priorities please see Elaine. Your

support is greatly appreciated.

2. WasteWise:

Second Life … for oral care products!

Coolbinia has commenced a new wastewise initiative … for used toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and

caps, floss containers and their outer packaging materials.

Help divert landfill waste by leaving your oral care products in the recycle box outside the

Kwobadarn, next to the battery recycling box.

These products will be sent to TerraCycle. For each approved item we will be awarded two

TerraCycle points. These points can be redeemed for a payment of 1 cent per point for our school.

Products made from the oral care waste stream

include:

Recycled • garden pavers

soap dispensers

waste bins

plant pot

watering cans

Nespresso coffee capsules

cigarette waste bins

Please support this new initiative … Second Life … for

oral care products!

Please continue to support the various wastewise

initiatives across the school:

• Recycle batteries outside the Kwobadarn door

• Recycle mobile phone inside Kwobadarn door

• Recycle food scraps using the green bucket in the undercover area

Use a ‘nude food’ lunchbox without gladwrap or aluminium foil

3. WaterWise:

World Water Day

International World Water Day focused attention on the importance of freshwater and advocated

for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

Check out: http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday

Waterwise Fact

If you read your water meter regularly, you will be

able to detect any irregularities, such as leaks. This

will save both water and money.

4. EnergySmart:

Our EnergySmart program is ongoing. Since Sept

13, 2012, our solar power system has generated

over 47,000kWh and saved more than 44,000kg

of CO2. This outcome contributes to our 200

Tonne Plan target.

5. TravelSmart:

Term 1 Active Travel Results The Term 1 TravelSmart team collected baseline data for active travel at Coolbinia PS. In brief, 60% of students came to school by car and 40% by active travel (walk, ride bike/scooter, public transport). Please click on the Active Travel Results report from the Department of Transport here. Can we improve on the 40% active travel finding? Walk to School Day Friday 22 May is National Walk to School Day. Please support this special event, as it is being organised by our Year 5 TravelSmart team. They will hand out stickers and raffle tickets, with prizes being drawn at recess. The Term 2 TravelSmart team are organising the following TravelSmart activities for this term:

Travel surveys … pre and post hands-up surveys were conducted to obtain baseline travel data and evidence showing the impact of the Walk to School Day on 22 May.

Fume Free Fridays … to reduce congestion around the school and help the environment. Please walk or ride to school every Friday.

Walking School Bus … they are fun, healthy and good for the atmosphere! Overall, the students are aiming for double Platinum level in TravelSmart this year, so please walk/ride to school and support the students’ initiatives. Thank you. Social Handprint

1. Student Wellbeing:

RSL Care Visited Coolbinia

Coolbinia P.S.’s supportive relationship with RSL Care, Menora Gardens, was demonstrated recently

by a gardening session with the residents and Year 4 students.

Kirsty Green, a former student of Coolbinia PS and now

the Activities Officer at Bunnings Morley, supported the

gardening activity by providing compost, mulch,

lavender, rosemary, red geraniums and red poppy seeds

for an Anzac Day display. Thanks to Bunnings and Kirsty

for their generosity.

Students and residents worked together to create an impressive display…

Anzac Service at RSL Care

Four Year 6 students represented the school at RSL Care for an Anzac Day service. They recited an

Anzac Day poem, called Sir, and participated in the wreath laying ceremony.

The contribution of the participating students was outstanding … commendation is well deserved.

2. Aboriginal Cultures:

Visual Arts:

Sharyn Egan, Noongar artist, worked with Year 1 and 3 students on 25 March. See the impressive

results of this learning experience:

Year 1- fauna and flora in our bushland Year 3 – tracks through our bushland

Thank you Sharon. We look forward to working with you again soon!

3. Cultural & Social Diversity:

Students from schools in Malaysia and Indonesia will be visiting Coolbinia PS this term. Our senior

students will be sharing with our visitors in two exciting initiatives:

Robotics and technical Lego sessions and

Environmental stewardship related to rivers and bushland.

These sessions will relate to real life contexts in Science, Geography and the Cross Curriculum

Priorities of Sustainability and Australia’s Engagement with Asia.

Watch out for future editions of this newsletter, showcasing outcomes from these initiatives.

4. Community Partnerships:

Two community partnerships are worthy of note this month: RSL Care and Friends of Coolbinia

Bushland.

Our partnership with RSL Care has been very rich lately, particularly in relation to the gardening and

Anzac Day activities described above. We are also working closely with Friends of Coolbinia

Bushland. Mary Gray, a member of this Friends group, visited the school to advise on care of the

bushland. Many thanks to our partners for enriching our education programs.

5. Economics & Built Environment:

Boya Currency: Boyas are our local currency created to acknowledge and reward environmentally and socially supportive actions. There are three different boyas circulating in our community and wider:

1 boya notes from our initial 10 Tonne Plan in 2011,

5 boya notes from our 50 Tonne Plan in 2012-2013 and

10 boya notes from our recently completed 100 Tonne Plan, 2013-2014.

Boyas can be spent at assembly garden produce stalls and the canteen. Our new 200 Tonne Plan will include designing new 20 boya notes, so watch out for these in the coming months.

Aboriginal Cultures and Histories

‘Bushland Trail’ 2015 PALS Project

The aim of the ‘Bushland Trail’ project is to enhance understandings of Aboriginal culture. The

project is part-funded by a PALS grant. The PALS acronym stands for the qualities of Partnership,

Acceptance, Learning and Sharing. This program encourages young people to take a leadership role

in strengthening relationships in their local community between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal

people. This year our Aboriginal culture focus will be based in our bushland. An exciting and

engaging range of learning incursions and excursions are being implemented as part of our PALS

project. These include:

Living with Fire excursion

Yirra Yaakin Kep Kaatijin (Understanding Water) incursion

Bush walks & talks

Sharyn Egan, Noongar artist, incursion

Herdsman Lake Wildlife Centre, Ancient/Aboriginal Science

excursion

Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre incursion

Trevor Wally, Noongar Educator, incursion

Leonard Thorn, Noongar Educator, incursion

Joe Tonga, Micro Bat Boxes, incursion

Millennium Kids, write and publish book, incursion

Kelly Newton-Wordsworth, environmental singer and agricultural

expert, incursion

Wesley College Moorditj Mob dance performance incursion

Coolbinia Christmas Tree

The 2015 PALS project will address the ‘Community Participation’ category of the PALS awards. This

focus on community participation will be achieved in four main ways:

working with and learning from Aboriginal educators;

publishing and distributing a book about our learning experiences;

conducting an arts festival reflecting student learning about Aboriginal cultures and

histories; and

celebrating our relationships with Aboriginal people on a community day.

As can be seen, the scheduled incursions and excursions will support the achievement of our

community participation focus.

Kids Teaching Kids Conference

Year 6 students will be attending the Kids Teaching Kids Conference in Mandurah next term. They

will be conducting a workshop based on the Bushland Trail. Students will create games for

workshop participants to learn about our bushland in terms of environmental and Noongar

understandings.

Australia’s Engagement with Asia

Wildways Program

Our school has been selected to participate in the Wildways Program. This program uses art as a

vehicle to raise awareness about conservation issues and to promote positive action encouraging

people to care for precious ecosystems in both Asia and Australia.

The aim of the program is to enable deep and rich student learning to occur through collaborative

planning between the Year 6 classroom teacher and the Cross Curriculum Coach. Students will

investigate common environmental issues pertaining to their local and SE Asian regions and express

their understandings of the role of sustainable practices and conservation in the environment

through a banner. The production of a Banner as the visual arts focus may also focus on the

investigation into the loss of biodiversity within an ecosystem and the purpose the Perth Zoo plays in

securing long term populations of species in natural environments.

The values inherent within Wildways are drawn from the shared core value of Environmental

Responsibility in the Australian Curriculum. The Cross Curriculum Priorities (CCPs) involved in the

program are Sustainability (organising ideas 2, 5 and 7) and Asia and Australia’s engagement with

Asia (organising ideas 2 and 5). Wildways provides an excellent avenue for also developing

computing skills, Critical and Creative Thinking, as well as the Literacy and Ethical Thinking

Capabilities. All these components of the Australian curriculum will provide the lens through which

Coolbinia’s teachers will devise their collaborative programs of enquiry and creative work.

Two teachers - Erica Graca and Elaine Lewis - will attend a one-day training program at Perth Zoo on

May 8th May. There will be a number of presentations, including zoo officers, the One World Centre,

an Arts specialist, Pauline O’Brien, representatives from Millennium Kids and Roots and Shoots, as

well as Education Department learning area experts. Following this training, the Wildways Program

will be commenced at our school. Watch this space for developments!

Environmental Stewardship

Ten students from an Indonesian school will be visiting Coolbinia PS on Monday 8 June. The visitors

will work with our students (from Rms 5 and 7) on the health of river and bush ecosystems. A

special day-long workshop program is being organised in cooperation with Millennium Kids.

Millennium Kids is a youth organisation committed to sustainability.

Robotics

Students from schools in Malaysia and Indonesia will be visiting Coolbinia PS on Wednesday 10 June.

The timetable for that day facilitates sharing between our senior students and visitors:

8.45-10.35am Sustainability tour of Coolbinia’s initiatives

10.55-12.55 Robotics with Rm 7

1.35-2.50 Technic Lego –energy focus/solar cars with Rm 5

Coolbinia PS has purchased 50 robot kits to enhance our students’ learning in this field. Our

students will be introduced to this new equipment on Tuesday 2 June at a workshop conducted by

Scitech presenters.

Sister School: Jogjakarta Community School

Our sister school in Indonesia, Jogjakarta Community School, received over 70 library books donated

by Coolbinia PS. More information about our sister school may be found at:

http://jogjacommunityschool.org/?page_id=34

Sincerely

Elaine Lewis

Cross Curriculum Coach (Part time role; located in the Kwobadarn on Tuesdays & Thursdays)

8 May 2015