North Dandalup Primary School, in North Dandalup
| Details on this primary school | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
| |||
| BACKGROUND Situated 1.3km north of the town site at the base of the Darling Range, approximately 80kms from Perth, North Dandalup is a small rural school with a school population of 99 students spanning Kindergarten to Year 7. The school itself is steeped in history having been established in 1900. We celebrated 100 years of existence in the Year 2000. The school is organised into 4 classes i.e. Yrs K/P/1, Yrs 2/3, 4/5 and 6/7. Priority areas for each year are established by the School Council. To complement an obvious connection to our environment, the school is developing the area of Environmental Education. Some of the activities currently carried out by the children incorporating the environmental theme are: The Chickens & Chicken Coop The students take care of livestock. They observe the life cycles and see food waste being transformed into useable produce i.e. * Eat lunch scraps; * They provide learning opportunities to witness life cycles; * The eggs are offered for a donation at assemblies; * Manure is used to help activate the compost; and * Baby chickens hatched. Perma-culture Vegetable Garden The students plant, maintain, observe and reflect on edible plants. Students have the opportunity to learn that the food source from plants varies from plant to plant, i.e. stalks, fruit, roots can all be food sources depending on the plant. eg. * Watered and maintained; * Harvested and used; * Planted with seedlings; * Creating organically grown food. Ribbons of Blue The school commenced quarterly water testing of their local river through Ribbons of Blue in 1994. In 1997 this changed to weekly monitoring with results being entered into the international GLOBE database and the National Waterwatch database. The monitoring tests the river for salinity, turbidity etc (i.e. its health). Globe A CSIRO programme of climate recording; * Completed daily; * Emailed to USA scientists. Black Cockatoo Monitoring The project aims to create, install and monitor the use of artificial nesting boxes by threatened and endangered species of Black Cockatoos in the Shires of Serpentine-Jarrahdale and Murray. The objectives of the project are to: * Create 30 nest boxes using polypipe recycled from mining works and install at suitable locations on private properties and State Forest in the localities of Serpentine Keysbrook and North Dandalup; and, * Monitor the use of nest boxes by Black Cockatoos. Butterfly Garden Attracting butterflies to a small garden in the K-P-1 area. * Study of life cycle; * Importance of insects to plants Native Plant Nursery The students observe and learn about species, propagation and care of plants, e.g. * Growing seedlings; * Potting up days using cuttings from home; * Plants offered for a donation at assemblies; and * Tree seedlings used for community replanting. The Worm Farm The students feed and maintain the worms on a daily and weekly basis by different groups of students. They observe and reflect on waste materials changing into another product that has a valued use in the environment, e.g. * Recycle the paper waste; * Fruit scraps from Early Child Education Centre; * Staff tea bags and scraps; and * Any other suitable waste. Castings and Worm Widdle The students bag and bottle worm waste products for use in the environmental program, e.g. Bottled or weighed and bagged by the students and offered for a donation at assemblies; The worms are offered for a donation when requested; and Added to potting mix or used in nursery for seedlings. Roadside and Farm Tree Planting The students plant 1,000's of trees on various properties to assist with revegetating and providing shelterbelts for native birds and animals. It also improves ground and surface water quality e.g. Community Properties; Local Landcare groups involved. The CompostHeap The students maintain the compost weekly. They observe and reflect on waste being transformed into a useable product, e.g. * Paper shredding; * Local horse manure donated; * Used on garden beds; * Potting mix; * General garden refuse; and * Piles turned to assist breakdown Recycling Depot for the Community All students will have a greater appreciation of the school and surrounds. One of the ways to achieve this is to allow the students to participate in and observe and reflect on ways of minimising the amount of refuse that leaves the school. This is done through an integrated recycling program, e.g. * Labelled bins for the compost papers and recycle bins; * Papers are shredded for composting or the worm widdle; * Community recycling; * Food scraps from the lunches are placed in a special bin for the chickens; * Manure and hay from the chickens is mixed in with the compost; * Compost is used in the vegetable garden Frog Pond Students can gain greater understanding of plants and wildlife in ponds e.g. * Observation of the life cycle of frogs; * Macro invertebrate study; * Solar powered water recycling system; and * Pond plant and animal habitat * Students from Years 5-7 in 2004 created 'stepping tiles' incorporating a frog design. 'Pathway to Nature' The students observe, identify flora and fauna in a natural setting, e.g. * Protection of habitats; and * Appreciation of natural bushland 'Marri Kingia Australis Woodlands' 2 hectares; * Over 40 species identified and name tagged in common and botanic names. This project won a Special Commendation at the World Environment Day Awards 2005 Education/Schools Award (June 2005). We have been a Pilot School for 'The Sustainability in Schools Project' and 'Values in Education' which allows the North Dandalup Primary School to become a host school of the area for visiting schools to visit and see what can and has been achieved.OUTCOMES By immersing the school in environmental endeavours, we have fulfilled our number one priority, to bring the community back into the school. This approach has also enabled the following: - Our students are involved in a hands-on approach to learning. - It fosters the need to work together. - An integral part of the learning is the understanding of caring for the environment.DEMONSTRATED SUCCESSES The achievements of the school community have been widely recognized. The school has enjoyed many awards, these being: Enterprising Communities Award - 1998 (National) Landcare Education Award - 1999 (State) Finalist for WA in Landcare Awards - 2000 (National) Finalist in '3R's' EPA Award (reuse, reduce, recycle) - 2000 (State) EDWA Innovation in Education - 2000 Meritorious (State) Australian Rural Education Award - 2001 Meritorious (National) Environmental Heroes Award - 2001 Readers Digest (National) Environmental Excellence Award - 2001 Burke's Backyard (National) Earth School Competition -2001 Runner-up Keep Australia Beautiful Council (State) Community Services Award - Winner 2002 (State) World Environment Day - Finalist (National) Shire of Murray 'Best Schools' garden competition (four consecutive years 2000 - 2003) Ribbons of Blue State Award 2004 for long term commitment. World Environment Day 2004 - Finalist (National) Special Commendation 'Pathway to Nature' Education Department - Peel-Fremantle District - To create a DVD on Environmental Responsibilities (3rd prize) Premier's Award for Sustainability in Education - Winner 2005 (National) Hands on Habitat Award - 2006 (State) Keep Australia Beautiful - Litter Critter Award - 2006 (State) Qualified for and Received Solar Energy Grant - 2006 (To be implemented early to mid 2007) SCHOOL ATMOSPHERE - A friendly caring and personal family atmosphere is maintained. Consideration, cooperation and courtesy are stressed constantly. - Parents play a significant role in all areas of the school existence and formally, through the School Council and the P&C. - Wearing of school uniform is actively encouraged. The school colours are black and gold. - Computers and Internet connections are in all classrooms - The school canteen operates every second Monday. - Assemblies are conducted three times a term with minor in-school assemblies held weekly. - Newsletters are produced weekly.SPECIAL FEATURES - Australia wide testing - we enter the Australian Schools Science, English and Mathematics exams for Yr 4/5/6/7 students each year. - ORACY Exams - all Yr 4/5/6/7 children are examined by an external examiner each year. - Indonesian and Music are our specialist teacher areas. - Multi-Age Grouping - current educational philosophy recommends this approach, where children learn by peer tutoring, modelling and with problem solving, so that learning is developmental and appropriate for each child's state of readiness. All our classes are grouped to assist this. - Computer Education - each classroom is Internet connected, with both the senior classes accessing 4 networked/internet connected computers. All students use these to retrieve current up to date information from world sources.IN CONCLUSION The result has been a positive, pro-active school community supportive of students' learning. The greatest visible achievement for the students has been improved student outcomes, based on environmental awareness. North Dandalup Primary School has made a strong commitment to Landcare activities and is keen to promote Landcare with a hands-on approach in order to develop deeply entrenched environmental knowledge and concepts, which extend into the wider community. We expect this innovative approach will lead to life long learning. | ||||
| Driving directions Enter any address in the field below in the format of "[street] [suburb] [state] [postcode]" and click the button below. It will show you a map with the route to travel to get there. Enter any address you like and try it out! | ||||
| Reviews | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| | |||
No-one has written a review on this particular primary school yet ... be the first and add yours below! |
www.thisreview.com.au/Reviews/Education/Public-Primary-Schools/Western-Australia/North-Dandalup-Primary-School-North-Dandalup-Western-Australia
