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Students for Environmental Action - SEA Group at Torquay Primary School

A group of students formed an environmental action group. One of their projects was to set up an indigenous plant nursery in preparation for revegetation at a new site for the school.

Project Details
   Aims
   Field Trips
   Community Involvement
Project Outcomes
   Activities across the Curriculum
   Other Initiatives
   Future Plans
Four Years On
Project Leader

Project Details
Students at Torquay Primary School were intent on taking positive environmental action. They decided to go under the name of Students for Environmental Action-the SEA group.

The group embarked upon a major project with the establishment of an indigenous plant nursery within the school grounds. Students named the project STAND-Students of Torquay Action Nursery Development. They aimed to propagate from seed and cuttings, a variety of grasses, ground covers, shrubs and trees indigenous to the Torquay area for use when the school relocated to a new site in 2000. The new site, although much larger than the (then) current site, had nothing indigenous growing on it, having been previously used extensively for grazing.

SEA's other activities included regular field trips, student conservation conferences and involvement in collaborative projects such as the Birds Australia Atlas Project and the Australia-wide Frog Symphony Project.

Project Aims
STAND has been developed to initiate positive environmental action.

The aims are:

to provide a large number of indigenous plants for planting on the site of the new Torquay Primary School
to foster student and community awareness of the value of indigenous plants in creating habitat for wildlife
to foster an appreciation of local plants and habitats
to develop skills associated with the identification and propagation of various plant species
to develop skills associated with the identification of environmental weeds and their impact on the natural environment
to develop skills associated with the upkeep of a school nursery
to develop an appreciation of how plants were used for fibre, medicines, tools and food by the local Aboriginal people
to provide families with plants for their gardens, and so pass on the message of the importance of indigenous plants

Field Trips
In order to provide students with the necessary skills and knowledge to embark upon such a project, a series of field trips are organised to enable students to visit commercial indigenous nurseries, visit local bushland areas and meet various experts, including local Aboriginal people. This has enabled students to experience first-hand the relationship between indigenous plants in local undisturbed areas, plants in local remnant sites and the role of indigenous nurseries. Many remnant and undisturbed habitats occur in close proximity to Torquay Primary School. These include coastal, heathland, grassland and forested habitats. These areas have proved to be a tremendous resource.

These field trips and associated activities provide an ongoing opportunity to foster an understanding and relationship with the local environment. One regular field work activity involves students caring for sand dunes at Bells Beach. This is done in conjunction with the Surf Coast Shire. SEA group students were recognised for their environmental work when the Mayor of the Surf Coast Shire awarded the group the prestigious 'Young Citizens of the Surf Coast' award at an Australia Day ceremony

Community Involvement
In preparation for the nursery, the SEA group sought a variety of gardening items. A list was drafted and published in the weekly school newsletter. The aims of the project, as well as student reports detailing the field trips, ensured the school community were aware of STAND.

The response was fantastic with the donation of large quantities of plastic plant tubes, seedling trays, polystyrene boxes, potting mix and garden hoses. This result was pleasing from an environmental point of view as the students could see that they were assisting in the reusing of plastics and polystyrene, and so reducing the impact on the environment. The need for a large amount of a suitable potting mix was met with the generous and ongoing donation of 'unlimited' quantities of potting mix through the company Envirogreen.

Outcomes
STAND built up a nursery holding 3,000 plants of 18 species. The plants were mostly obtained as seedlings from a local indigenous plant wholesaler. Other plants were obtained from seed and cuttings growing from local remnant areas. As well as producing a large number of plants for their new school site, students gained an understanding of the value of native plants and developed a range of skills associated with plant propagation.

Not only SEA group students were involved in the establishment of STAND. The whole school population were involved in putting individual plants into tubes. This ensured that a large number of the 620 students were involved in the project and felt a degree of ownership.

Activities across the Curriculum
SEA group activities proved an ideal resource in facilitating learning outcomes from the Key Learning Areas (KLA's) Science, Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) and Health and Physical Education (H & PE). It has been encouraging to see students, with the aid of specialist Art and Technology staff members, design and produce a STAND sign, launch invitations and plant identification signage. These examples have allowed opportunities for the integration of Art and Technology within the STAND project. The learning outcomes of the English KLA were also facilitated through the development of written reports after the completion of field work such as the Birds Australia Atlas project and the Australian Frog Symphony project.

Other Initiatives
The SEA group ran many projects concurrently. These included the indigenous nursery STAND, regular field trips such as bird surveys for the Birds Australia Atlas project and night activities such as recording the calls of local frog species for the Frog Symphony project.

One achievement has been the running of an inter-school Student Conservation Conference entitled What Can I Do? Held during the week of World Environment Day, 140 students from three local schools, representatives from local environmental organisations and community groups, and the local Mayor, came together to engage in workshops designed to empower the students to take action for the environment. The workshops included indigenous plants and their value, creating wildlife friendly gardens, waste management at school, surveying local birds, understanding environmental indicators through ponding, and environmental art. One immediate outcome of the conference has been the placing of a dozen parrot nest boxes around the school yard.

Future Plans
The Student Conservation Conference was a tremendous success and will be held annually. There is the potential to hold it over several days and call it a Student Conservation Camp.

SEA group students and the community will continue to be involved in seed collection, propagation, further field trips and planning the gardens and habitats at the new school site.

STAND and other SEA projects will continue to be an on going resource for the integration of all Key Learning Areas across the curriculum.

Four Years On
In 2003, Torquay Primary School became a part of the Sustainable Schools program, which is a Department of Education initiative, coordinated by CERES - Community Environmental Park and the Gould League. As a Sustainable School, Torquay Primary has developed a 4-year plan that will focus on setting targets, saving money, reducing environmental impact and improving the aesthetics of the school grounds.

Specific targets were identified in the areas of Biodiversity, Water Conservation, Energy Use and Waste. In connection with its Water Conservation target, the school obtained a generous grant from the Gould League for the construction of a wetland area. This area provides opportunities to store rainwater, filter grey water and increase biodiversity. The wetland, complete with decking, a bird hide and a 45,000 litre rainwater storage tank, is filled via run off from surrounding buildings.

2003 has been the year of 'growth' as many of our trees are growing in size. Over 6,000 indigenous plants have been planted throughout the school grounds during the past 24 months. More than 3,000 of these plants were planted and cared for by the students, in the school indigenous nursery over a five year period. The nursery within the grounds of our school provides a valuable teaching resource and helps to enhance the school grounds.

The establishment of the wetlands, dry creek bed, butterflies attracting garden, Harmony Forest, Koori garden and grassland, heath land and woodland habitat gardens will ensure our students have a school yard that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also rich in culture and biodiversity.

The Animals in the Classroom Program ensures that elements of the natural world are brought into the classroom. Students take responsibility for and share their room with creatures ranging from large Water Pythons and Bearded Dragons, through to the locally endangered Growling Grassfrog (see Eingana 26(1) April 2003) and a Zebra Moray Eel. Taking care of these animals provide an invaluable and unique resource for learning about the environment.

In addition to programs within the school, our students were involved in the revegetation of sand dunes at Point Danger. This was done in conjunction with the Department of Sustainability and Environment and staff from the Institute of Marine Studies in Queenscliff.

Project Contact (1999 - 2004)
David Pace, Environmental Education Coordinator, Torquay Primary School.

Torquay Primary School
www.torquayps.vic.edu.au
Phone: (03) 5261 2360
Fax (03) 5261 4324

STAND is situated
in a sunny courtyard.