Dalby State School and its young students will turn waste into food under a new project funded by Arrow Energy.
Principal Mona Anau said the students would fertilise their garden, producing quality food from existing waste produced by the school,” Ms Anau said.
“Experts will be invited to work with the students around the science of gardening – soil erosion, water conservation, etc.
“It will be an extension of a science-based gardening program in which the students have been heavily involved, where they planted vegetables and a range of flowers around the school and sold vegetables to the wider community at our annual ‘creekside market’.”
Arrow’s funding will be used to buy three aquaponic systems and a worm farm to feed the system.
Under the project, students will be able to:
- design and manage a sustainable and environmentally friendly project
- work out the project’s operational cost and consider detrimental or beneficial factors like seeding, location, composting and maintenance
- allocate roles and responsibilities.
The students will be able to choose their crops, choose the site, calculate how much they will need to grow to turn a profit and sustain the project, and identify what help they need from staff, parents and gardeners. They will also record data from their crops and, at the end, communicate their success to the rest of the school and the wider Dalby community.
Arrow Senior Community Officer Diane Warr said the project would provide students with a strong foundation for life.
“It will teach the children something of the work and effort that goes into putting food on their plates,” Ms Warr said.
“But it might also spark an interest in the business of sustainably growing food, which is one of the looming challenges for the world economy and one of the great opportunities for this area of Queensland.
“Arrow has a strong interest in promoting environmental awareness and initiatives that sustain and improve the environment, especially among younger generations.”
Arrow’s funding for the Dalby State School sustainability garden was awarded from its Brighter Futures funding from the latest round are:
- Charleville School of Distance Education – for the school’s 2014 Kick Start Conference, to be attended by 100 students and 60 parents and home tutors for remote properties in Queensland’s far south west. The conference provides education, sporting and social opportunities for children and home tutors. Children will be coached in archery, football and drama as well as curriculum areas. Home tutors will have an opportunity to have face to face sessions on specific curriculum areas. Arrow’s funding will cover the cost of coaches and presenters.
- St Mary’s School P&F, Taroom – an on-site ambulance to attend the P&F’s annual rodeo, which is the school’s major fundraising event.
- Murilla Community Centre, Miles – training for staff and volunteers in first aid, emergency care, asthma and anaphylaxis. The centre sponsors services to Miles and surrounding districts, including family day care, in-home child care, the Murilla Childcare Centre, out of school hours care and the Murilla Respite Service.
- Taroom Swimming Club – a two-day coaching clinic by two qualified coaches to teach children both the basic and more advanced swimming skills, including stroke correction, starts and finishes and training methods, both in and out of the water.
- Millmerran Centenary Retirement Village – a sustainable garden, including plants, raised beds that the aged residents can easily access and drip watering systems to minimise water use.
- Beck Street Kindergarten, Dalby – an expansion of the kindergarten’s sustainable garden, which will be used as a teaching environment and tool to produce fresh vegetables, fruit and honey grown and cared for directly by the children. Arrow’s funding will provide a worm farm, a compost tumbler, planter boxes, plants and stingless native bees.
- Flying Arts Alliance – artist in residence workshops at the Artiz@Miles 2014 artist development camp over the Easter school holidays, where young people from across the Surat will be invited to a program that focusses on art and the environment. It will allow young people to connect with each other and the arts, increase their awareness of the area’s environment and ecosystems and to gain a better understanding if further education and career possibilities in the arts.
- Jandowae State School – webinar SMART Board training for teachers. SMART Boards are interactive, computer-connected white boards. They allow greater use of technology to the whole class on a large screen.
- Wandoan Show Society – on on-site ambulance for the annual, two-day agricultural show which showcases local and regional community, agriculture and businesses.
Brighter Futures supports local, not-for-profit groups on projects that build community capacity in health, safety, education and environmental awareness. This year, Arrow invested more than $4.6 million in 117 community projects across the state.
For more information about the Brighter Futures program email [email protected] or phone 1800 038 856 (toll free).
Media contact:
Dalby State School
Mona Anau
Phone: +61 7 4672 3666
Email: [email protected]