Lapstone Living Class Room At the beginning

Lapstone Living Class Room

At the beginning there was sand stone

September 2003 – an idea Based on permaculture principles (see Rosemary Morrow: earth user’s guide to permaculture) Children build lego model, marked the design – Curriculum link: maths Railway sleepers donated – use recycled materials you can get for free – bricks, pavers, sleepers… Working Bee September 2003 – built garden beds and composting bay Budget: $500 from P&C

2007

Success Get teachers, students and parents involved Make democratic decisions to allow students/teachers/parents to take owner ship: - planning stage – brainstorm ideas with all parties involved - write mission statement for gardens – why? ? ? - document for future use (grants, competitions etc) - integrate: into daily school life, curriculum, responsibilities

Site selection criteria Sunny position most of the day (about 4 -6 hours) Flat surface, if sloped work with terraces Composting area close by, but partly shaded Recycling bins close by for materials Easy access to tools

Funding P&C starting up Working bees ($ in kind) Community donations (materials, knowledge, work) Grants

Basic gear q Get the real stuff – children of all ages can work with the real tools, just watch for size/ weight q Small trowels, gloves, secateurs – Spade, rake, fork Pull-wheel barrow Donated pots, polystyrene boxes Seed raising mix, manures (Sun Valley, RDA) Compost enclosure – start with wire A table helps -parent donation? ? ? A Shed!!!! q q q q

Composting 03– vital ingredient

Composting q Blue Mountains soil is very sandy, poor of nutrients control over ingredient – manures, straw, mushroom compost, shredded paper (recycling!), organic scraps from kids, canteen, Sip & Crunch, lawn clippings, mulch etc Host an Earth Works course through BMCC – build compost on site, learning for school community – students and parents

Composting 2007

No dig gardens No dig garden easy to build on sand stone Easy to maintain, keep nutrients up Fun to build up and can work for years

S 6 No dig garden May 2007

Community involvement Become active member of school environmental network SEN, BMCC or your council Use parent know-how Get donations: we received railway sleepers free, shade house from Rotary, compost bins from school community and council, pavers from parents, plants from neighbors, help from Garden Club Host an Earth Works course through BMCC (Council) – build compost on site, learning for school community – students and parents

Celebrate This is how we celebrate: Invited garden club members for morning tea Delicious BBQ for working bee participants Feasts with friut of our labour Grant unveiling for dragon sculpture Tree planting day Take photos, Give awards, Make presents, make art

Sophia – Blue Mountains Marsupial Dragon q. Build from rubble, building waste q. Pottery tiles from each student q. Mosaics by students and parents q. Annual celebrations

Music, poems, speeches… Built with an Open Garden Scheme grant. .

Current Living Class Room at LPS Garden plots, shade house Rain water tank BM Marsupial Dragon Native Bush area Kallaroo with pond Composting Recycling – paper, alu, scraps, phones Landcare site Out door class room Tree planting sites ECOLAPSTONE - Pbwiki

Propagation/ native local plants

Water tank – electric pump – but we can do better….

Bike pumps water with muscle power

Citta Slow Lapstone is an accredited Citta Slow Blue Mountains School for growing organic vegetables and preparing them on site. We are committed to saving food miles Teaching students sustainable living techniques

Harvest

Feast – Fun: plant-grow-harvest-eat

Environmental Day th 5 June ‘ 08 18 Peer support groups of mixed age Lapstone primary children enjoyed a day of environmental activities from bush craft, sustainability awareness, water audit to green house gas calculations. The day ended in a feast prepared by student groups for all students, staff and visiting facilitators. A photo exhibition and clay tiles are a lasting memory of the day.

Experimenting with the water run built by students from clay on Enviro Day 08.

ECO LAPSTONE Establishment of PBwiki on the net Public launch 7 th November 2008 To foster exchange in all areas of environmental education : Policy development (e. g. SEMP), Curriculum, Practical in garden and kitchen, Training A tool for students, staff, parents, community

ECOLAPSTONE Front page of wiki

Food for Though – watch this space q q Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program? Lower Blue Mountains Learning Community LBMLC – network to embark on resource sharing (Staff, Gardens & Kitchen) ICT communication/ exchange with other school Training centre at Lapstone Public School

Kitchen Garden The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation is now expanding nation wide Funding from the Federal Health Department “Engaging Australian primary school students in pleasurable food education to create life-long, joyful and healthy eating habits. ” Go on their website to follow the developments for NSW and use their resources

Philosophy – WHY all this? ? ? Learn to live simply so others can simply live Explore and Achieve – explore life and learning and achieve sustainability

Presented by Kristin Wohlers, ph: (02) 4739 5936 kristinwohlers@aapt. net. au Please credit this power point presentation in case you use it. Contact: Lapstone Public School, Ph: 4739 4122