Project Overview:

Geraldton Grammar School wanted to enhance the Kindergarten playground area by introducing additional native plants. By doing this, teachers hoped to increase student understanding of the importance of natural habitats, attract wildlife and involve the local Indigenous community in plant selection.

In June 2021 the school received a Woolworths Junior Landcare Grant, enabling them to implement this project to enhance native habitat.

Environmental Outcomes:

A tired, patchy unused lawn area has been replanted with a creative, interactive garden that will hopefully thrive and provide a habitat for animals/insects and an increase in native vegetation.

The students particularly enjoyed planting seeds with the rangers from Western Mulga, a local Indigenous Landcare Organisation. Students also enjoyed seeing the process of turning a tired, unused corner of the Kindy play space into a creative, interactive garden space.

Educational Outcomes:

Collaborating with the rangers from local Indigenous organisation, Western Mulga, gave students exposure to a diverse community group and raised awareness with families and the school community of the landcare work this organisation does in the broader community.

Students were involved in planting seeds and observing their growth. This provided a hands-on learning experience to support the science curriculum helping the children develop their understanding of living things, the needs of living things, the lifecycle of plants and the importance of habitats for insects and birds.

This hands-on experience connected to the Kindergarten literacy curriculum with students taking part in shared reading and writing experiences to find out more about these science topics and record their experiences with planting to share with others.

Conclusion:

Jayne Caley Head of Early Learning at the school said, “This project enabled our school to turn a tired, patchy area of grass into a creative, interactive native garden space for students and wildlife to enjoy. “