Team Foundation News
Botanic Gardens Excursion
Our eagerly anticipated excursion to the Royal Botanic Gardens finally took place on Tuesday 30th May. FKJ and FSR, two teachers, one teacher aide, two student teachers and five enthusiastic parents boarded the bus and took off through the city. The views were magnificent and the weather was perfect, not too cold or hot with occasional bursts of sunshine in the afternoon.
Our first stop was the Education Centre where we ate our morning snack and met one of our educational guides for the day. She welcomed us to the Botanic Gardens and asked us to take care of this land by not picking plants, not walking in the garden bed and taking home any rubbish that we had in our bags.
After eating our morning snack we went on a self-guided tour of the Gardens exploring the wondrous plants and creatures and encountering a range of native animals including ducks and water hens. As a group, we journeyed from Guilfoyle’s Volcano to the Arid Garden and then back to the Education Centre. We used our human senses to explore the gardens by noticing what we could see, hear, feel, smell and taste.
After lunch we participated in the highly recommended Food Forest Program, run by educators of the Botanic Gardens. The focus for this activity was for our students to develop connections between plants and healthy diets and be introduced to composting and other organic and sustainable gardening methods.
The Foundation students began the session by giving thanks to the traditional elders of this land. Students learnt who lived on this land before European settlement and how these people cared for this land.
The next activity was for the students to plant their own sugar snap pea seeds into soil. Students learnt how to plant these seeds so that they would be healthy and grow into strong plants.
For the next activity the Foundation students learnt how to recycle food scraps into a worm farm. They found out what sort of food can go into a worm farm and how long it takes to break down into soil that can eventually be put into the garden.
The next activity was an exploration of the Kitchen Garden, which was located inside the Children’s Garden. The students were introduced to many different varieties of vegetables and herbs. They smelt, touched and picked a multitude of healthy produce that was packed up and taken back to school for us to make into a delicious salad or tasting platter.
Afterward we walked into the main garden and found out many interesting facts. We were told the story of the amazing survival of the Lightning Tree. In 1972, one of the great big oaks, located in the gardens, was stuck by lightning. The electricity zapped through its water and sap, forming an enormous split in its trunk. The Botanic Gardens arborist, a tree doctor, decided that she would try and save the tree and so with lots of metal cables was able to rejoin the trunk and stop it from dying. You can still see the metal cables holding this tree together!
The Foundation students had a wonderful day exploring these beautiful gardens of Melbourne! The bus ride was much quieter on the way back to school and we’re sure the students, parents and teachers all slept well afterwards.
We feel very grateful to have spent such a lovely day together. What a treasured part of Melbourne’s culture!