Working Bee

September Working Bee 

The September Working Bee was held on Sunday. We had a great turnout of over 40 volunteers, families, friends of the school, students and teachers. This was by far the largest turnout since February 2020, just prior to the commencement of covid lockdowns, when we had 80 volunteers. So a big thank you to everyone who attended.

It was great to see so many students taking pride in their school, helping alongside parents and teachers to keep the grounds looking tidy. The school is acknowledging student participation at the Working Bees as work experience that students can include on their CVs and they can also earn house points for attending. 

After the mild winter there has been a flush of early spring growth, so pruning and some infill planting were the main activities. Focus areas were the garden beds in the courtyard where the lomandra received a severe haircut. 

The science breezeway also received some much-needed attention.

We also trialled a small bush regeneration burn and will monitor the response before considering a wider application to help promote native plant growth and reduce weeds.

Similar to the previous June Working Bee, instead of a BBQ lunch we ended the working bee a bit earlier and had a morning tea of muffins and warm party pies and quiches, which went down really well with the volunteers, as did the traditional chocolate box raffle. Mr Sicari also filled us in on plans for a new STEAM building that will commence construction later this year.

With the fantastic turnout this Working Bee, we would really like to maintain the momentum for our final Working Bee for the year in October. We realise there are a lot of things that compete for everyone’s time. However, we'd really encourage families to attend at least one Working Bee per year if possible. There are around 1000 families at the school, so if each family attended just one Working Bee per year we’d average over 160 people per Working Bee! That would really help us get more things done. So please put the final Working Bee date in your calendar now and look out for a reminder when school returns after the September holidays.

We are also always looking for new Grounds Committee members. We’d particularly like to hear from anyone in the school community with experience or interest in helping us develop a strategic plan for the school grounds to guide our activities over the coming years, especially in preparation for the school’s 100-year birthday celebration in 2026.

If you'd like to get more involved with the school community and help with planning the school outdoor areas and gardens, please contact the school or a member of the committee. Contact can be made with Anna Panas anna.panas@education.vic.gov.au.

Meetings are held on a Thursday evening at the school prior to each Working Bee. 

EHS Grounds Committee 

ANNA PANAS, On behalf of the Grounds Committee