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  Get the real stuff – children of all ages can work with the real tools, just watch for size/ weight  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!!!!

Composting 03– vital ingredient

Composting  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

S6 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  Build from rubble, building waste  Pottery tiles from each student  Mosaics by students and parents  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 5 th 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  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) Please credit this power point presentation in case you use it. Contact: Lapstone Public School, Ph: