Welcome back!

It was so exciting to have all our students and staff back at school today. There was a real energy from everyone as our classrooms were opened. The Preps were quickly out in the playground using chalk to write their name, draw pictures and positive messages.

Today's learning was all about welcoming our students back and re-establishing class expectations and boundaries. Some Year Two and Year Three classes could all be found in their slippers. They were very cosy and smiling as they interacted with their peers.

The Year Threes were happily engaged in coding club and the Year Twos were exploring their country of origin. Year 5's had a gaming morning and Year Sixes played sport. Preps were also finger painting their stormy cloud impression, Year One were solving equations using icy pole sticks and sharing books with others and our Year Four's were engaged in a variety of activities including a Geographical exploration and an exploration of words.

Eighteen months ago our school adopted an orangutan - Valentino. This was the result of the fundraiser organised and driven by three of our Year Six students, Sophie Jackson, Bianca Karvonidis and Arli Marti, who were in Year Four at the time. The girls planned, created and instigated a fundraiser to raise awareness and save the orangutan from extinction. As a direct result of their effort St Louis de Montfort's was able to sponsor an orangutan. The article below celebrates his move from rehabilitation onto a pre-release island. What an amazing success story. Thank you to all of our school community for the huge effort. This proves even a little bit can make a difference.

What does freedom smell, sound, feel, look and taste like? Musty? Like birds twittering? Raindrops touching your skin? A lush green? Fresh fruits? We can only imagine. It must be like the joy of fireworks awakening all senses when the transport cage finally opens, and bars give way to branches, treetops, open space.

The journey to freedom continues. After successfully releasing 13 orangutans in February, we recently transferred another seven home to the wild (see page 3) and eight more to a pre-release island. Three of the lucky ones that moved from our Nyaru Menteng Rehabilitation Centre to Badak Besar Island in the Salat Island Cluster are familiar faces: Cinta, Jumbo and Valentino. All three are part of our adoption program and stars on the documentary series ‘Orangutan Jungle School.’

You can think of a pre-release island as a university for orangutans who have successfully graduated from Forest School. We still look after the students by providing supplemental food and making sure they are adapting well. But we will also give them more room to explore and thrive to grow into completely independent orangutans.

Guess when Valentino entered our centre? It was on Valentine’s Day, hence his name. His story is similar to Cinta’s. A sad one. A rubber planter rescued him in 2015. When Valentino (photos below) arrived at our centre, he was in deplorable condition. Wounds covered the tiny five to six-month-old baby, and his skin was crusty and irritated. As he was pretty comfortable around humans, we assume that someone must have taken him away from his mum shortly after being born. Veterinarian Arga Sawung Kusuma remembers Valentino’s first time in Nyary Menteng very well. “We rubbed him with oil every day, which created a close bond between the veterinary team and Valentino.” Who would have thought that this little tortured infant would become the class clown in Forest School! Intelligent, innovative, creative. “Valentino is very slick”, says Vet Arga. “When he was in Forest School, instead of looking for food deliberately hidden by the surrogate mothers, he knew it was more effective to try and steal directly from their bags or other orangutans.”

Cinta, Valentino and Jumbo can now enjoy a free life on Badak Besar Island, and we couldn’t be more proud of them. How does freedom smell, sound, feel, look and taste like? “Like something a bit scary” could have been Valentino’s answer. He was more hesitant than the others when Vet Arga opened his cage. “I thought that maybe he would not want to leave it.” But then Valentino quickly scrambled out and into the trees, where he foraged for leaves.

For Jumbo, it could have been: “It tastes like fresh fruit”. The nine year-old immediately shot out of his cage and snatched some bananas, completely ignoring the humans around him. And Cinta? A high tree captured her attention. Hanin, who we released earlier, had already climbed it and was foraging for food. So, Cinta quickly joined her – eventually disappearing in the treetops of her well deserved new home.

Important Dates

Term Two 2021