TPS Enviro News

TPS has new Chickens!

The TPS Enviro Team are happy to announce that we have six new chickens.

From supplying us with fresh, healthy eggs from well-cared-for animals, to giving us great fertilizer for the garden , to providing lively pets—as well as being part of the drive to a local, sustainable food system. The chickens are a lovely addition to the TPS Family.

The Enviro team and families attending working bees at the school have revamped our chook pen. Foundations have been laid to extend the enclosure and we recently purchased a new hen house complete with an automatic door that closes when the chooks go to bed.

Children helped to clean up the chicken enclosure and made signage, a dust bath and a chicken gym!

In March members of the Enviro team and their children went on an adventure to a farm called Abundant Layers in Nar Nar Goon. On the farm we met with some horses and alpacas, ducks, and geese but most importantly we met a lot of chickens!

With over 20 types of chickens at the farm to choose from we set about choosing the breeds that respond well to being cared for by children and have interesting colour, shapes and size. We also wanted chickens that have distinct personalities and features.

With input from TPS families and the farmers advice we choose 6 different breeds that were all around three months old.

The breeds all have fantastic names; Buff Orphington, Wyandotte, Speckled Sussex, Plymouth Rock, Barnevelder and Light Sussex.

Since arriving the chickens have been cared for by a small group of families, this has allowed the chickens to settle into their new home nicely and get used to being picked up.

As the chickens are only young, we are not expecting them to lay any eggs until Winter, at that time eggs will be used in cooking classes with the remainder available through the Enviro team.

A comprehensive Chicken Care plan has been developed. In time the Enviro team will put a call out for more families to be involved in the chicken’s care.

Can you help us name our chickens?

Profiles of each chicken type and personality are available on google forms you can put forward a name for one or all of the chickens.

Once we have collected suggestions from the TPS community we will put the names to a vote.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJVu1knyoMUjP10mGiXgBlfdAYM9bhxbYLZPCuvj7GSLdHQw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Simultaneous Storytime 2020

We have registered for the 2020 Simultaneous Storytime and are very excited because it features the book written by a parent in our community, Whitney and Britney Chicken Divas by Lucinda Gifford.

It also gives us a chance to share with our community the super amazing chickens we have at TPS. Thank you to all the Enviro team and Chicken Carers who have been coming in to feed and cuddle our feathered friends.

Those of us onsite have also been enjoying their company - I even got over my Ornithophobia and held a chicken.

We are now looking forward to naming the chickens and can’t wait to hear all the suggestions.

Wayapa

We are so lucky to have Aunty Lee as part of our TPS community coming down from Bright every Tuesday to keep the Wayapa program going. Aunty Lee starts the day with a staff wellbeing before “school”. We are also posting mindfulness lessons to the classes who are doing Wayapa with Aunty Lee in Term Two.

Who has gone on a bear hunt?

Thank you to all our families who have been staying in contact with us through Compass and our online learning platforms. We have also seen families out walking and riding around the school waving through the fence. It is an important time to stay connected and if you are in the area you may sport our rainbow and bear in the front window.

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