General News
6 July, 2022
School values a native garden
STUDENTS at Noorat Primary School recently memorialised the school values above a newly-installed garden filled with native flora.
STUDENTS at Noorat Primary School recently memorialised the school values above a newly-installed garden filled with native flora.
The area features a range of colourful native flowers with the school values (caring, excellent, respectful and responsible) adorning above.
Students taking part in the Hands on Learning program provided both the creative force and the labour behind the work.
Hands on Learning co-ordinator Sandy Noonan said the project aimed to revitalise an area students identified as an empty space, while reaffirming school values.
“We have the school values printed throughout our classrooms and the school shed, but we wanted to try and incorporate them in to the yard so students can still see them and think about them while they are outside playing,” she said.
“This shows what we expect and how the kids live their school lives.
“We wanted to have native flowers because they are easy to grow.
“When we’re away over school holidays, the flowers can last without the attention while providing colour to go with our signs.”
Ms Noonan said the five students in the Hands on Learning team had completed all phases of the work.
“The students sawed the edges, cut the shapes out, did all the painting and planted the flowers in the garden as well,” she said.
“They have done a great job.
“The program provides learning outside the classroom environment, but is still relatableto school.
“It’s worthwhile because there is a purpose, especially with something like this where students are creating not only for the students themselves, but for others as well.”
Noorat Primary School principal Ilona Watkins praised the efforts of the students involved.
“They work as a team to do a lot of projects throughout the program; sometimes it can be a big project, but other times its smaller projects along the way,” she said.
“The students identified the area as a bit of a dead space, so they were able to create this with our school values in mind.
“This was a concept which the students had learned about in kitchen garden, which the Hands on Learning team identified as a project to undertake.
“We’re thrilled with how it has turned out.”