Silverton Stories
Marine Amabassador Excursion
On Thursday 6th of March, our Marine Ambassadors attended their first excursion for the year.
Students were accompanied by teachers and parents joining three other local schools on this incredible trip to Sorrento and Port Phillip Bay.
On arrival to Sorrento Pier, we were greeted by staff from the Dolphin Research Institute who run this program. Students were kitted up with wetsuits, flippers, masks, and snorkels before boarding “Moonraker” a purpose-built tour boat. We were given a safety talk and shown how to use our mask and snorkel.
Our first destination was Pope’s Eye Marine Sanctuary which is an artificial reef, home to a colony of Australian fur seals. The area is also well known for the abundant sea life flourishing amongst the rocks and seaweed.
Students spent forty- five minutes exploring the sheltered bay surrounded by many inquisitive and playful seals. We saw a variety of beautiful fish, some students becoming confident enough to duck dive to the seabed to get a closer look at the sea life.
We all swam back to the boat and travelled back to Sorrento on the lookout for dolphins.
It wasn’t long before we found them. A pod of three to five dolphins swimming and playing in the wake of the boat. They were a spectacular site creating much excitement amongst all.
Our last stop was Portsea Pier, home to the beautiful weedy sea dragon.
We were lucky enough to spot several of them perfectly camouflaged in the sea grass and seaweed.
Back onto the boat we headed to Sorrento Pier for a debrief. What an experience! Perfect weather, perfect conditions. To top it off, our students expressed their gratitude for an opportunity of lifetime, to learn new skills and explore our beautiful Port Phillip Bay.
Each year, this program is offered to a small group of students who have over the course of their schooling at Silverton shown interest in the environment, Students are chosen on the basis of their participation in environmental activities at lunchtime such as attending Environment Club, looking after the chickens, tree planting days and rubbish pick up on Friday afternoon. Some students have volunteered to take part in extra curricula programs run by external environmental organisations such as Ceres and the City of Greater Dandenong.
The program includes three excursions and one incursion throughout the year.
Students learn about the impact of rubbish on our waterways and are encouraged to choose and implement a school-based project to teach the school community about this issue. They work together to come up with practical solutions to the problem of littering and waste production at school, at home and in the community.
Cyber Safety Project
For anyone who missed the first Parent Webinar which is intended to be watched with your children, please use the link below to register and watch: cybersafetyproject.com/parents-2026
There will be three more Parent Webinars this year. Details of these are also found by using the above link. Details below
