TREE News

The Regional Engagement Enterprise Update

What a wonderful start to the year. The students have been immersed in learning opportunities that promote critical thinking, resilience, a sense of community and a commitment to the environment – all attributes that underpin our TREE philosophy at Kinross Wolaroi School. 

The Junior School have taken advantage of the warm, wet weather and are in the process of planting out new garden beds outside of the classrooms and in the veggie patch.  Our Little Potters gardening group are re designing some of these beds in the hope to grow enough food to support the Oz Harvest program that our Year 5 students take part in later in the year. Year 2 are conducting a Science experiment by measuring the growth of various seedlings. 

Year 4 had the opportunity to learn about recycling and waste management on their NetWaste excursion last week.  This is an important platform for teaching our students about being environmental citizens.  It has been lovely to see these students put into place learnings from this fieldtrip as they continue to work on an action plan for waste at Kinross Wolaroi. 

International Women's Day was celebrated with breakfast and inspiring speeches from our Year 3 cohort. Their poise, confidence and delivery were outstanding – congratulations to all our Year 3 students on an exceptional celebration of women and presenting a clear vision of why we should all ‘Choose to Challenge’. 

Members of Year 6 are helping to plan and design the new Sensory Garden, it is hoped that the children will be able to complete the garden as part of a Mathematics enrichment activity. 

Our Senior students have been busy in TREE projects across a variety of different areas.  Year 7 have undertaken an ongoing Science experiment, measuring and tracking the weights of chickens based on the number of proteins in their seed. This is a hands-on activity that combines numerous curriculum outcomes. 

Year 9 'Be Heard' students have started their design unit and have decided to work on building a duck pontoon and house for the Windermere dam.  These young men are keen to get into the workshop to put their plans into action. 

Our Elective History students enjoyed a historical walk and tour of East Orange last week, they visited many of the early 1900s homes and buildings, studying the architectural designs and learning about the historic families of Orange.  These experiences build a connection to place and allow the students to develop questioning and reasoning skills. 

Our Agriculture and Primary Industry students have been busy fencing, drenching and shearing at Windermere, these firsthand experiences are the best way for our students to gain knowledge and understanding in order to meet the outcomes of the courses they are studying.  Of course, these activities also allow our students to develop real world skills and foster passion. 

The TWIG Team in conjunction with the Hospitality students have been very busy catering for school events and community support programs. Between produce from Windermere Ag Plot, Huntley Berry Farm and community members we are proud to say that the majority of foods prepared have locally grown ingredients.  We’ve made lots of zucchini slice, bread and muffins as well as tomato pasta sauce, chutney, and chilli jam.  We have also had an abundance of apples which have been made into pies, muffins, slices and jams. These have been utilised for staff meetings, luncheons, presentation nights and community events. 

The student body has been actively involved in community service initiatives including International Women's Day, Clean Up Australia Day, local Hot Meals Service and Shave for A Cure.  A big thank you to all students who have given up their time or hair to make our community a better place.