It’s lunch time at St Bernadette’s Primary School in the Melbourne suburb of Ivanhoe, and the vegetable garden is a popular place. Maree Sier-Trentin, the Sustainability and Environment Teacher who set up the schools’ north-facing garden in 2011, is tending to plants with help from student volunteers. While some eagerly assist, others search for bugs in the bug motel.
‘There are always jobs to be done, but the garden also gives kids a break from the yard. A few find a quiet corner to read or draw. I open the garden at lunch time and the kids elect to come in,’ Maree says.
For students without a yard at home, they can get their hands dirty in the school garden, learn about soils and compost, and enjoy being close to the earth.
SEASON WATCHERS
Maree, a regular at the Teachers’ Environment Network, encourages her students to note seasonal changes, spend time watching a worm or marvel at the intricacies of a spider’s web. She’s aware that time in green space is beneficial for mental health.
But these students are not just observers. For Clean Up Australia Day, Maree’s Year 3 and 4 students, along with the park rangers from nearby Darebin Creek, (a tributary of the Yarra River), removed rubbish from the waterway.
Maree says, ‘Afterwards, the students were bursting with pride about the amount of things they’d removed from the creek. They were astounded at how much rubbish ended up there in the first place.’
Determined not contribute to creek litter, the students designed stickers (put your rubbish in the bin) for school bins, ensuring their rubbish system worked well. Those stickers ended up on bins in local parklands, a shopping centre and the nearby industrial area.
Maree believes small actions or little achievements like this help students go forward, to develop a ‘we can do this’ attitude.
‘The students might only be 8, 9 or 10 years of age, and it can be really overwhelming with all the media about global warming . . . Some students feel very disempowered. But if we give them an opportunity, they learn that even though they are little, there’s things they can do that will make a difference . . . And if we all do small things, big change can happen.’
She adds, ‘education needs to be practical and applicable, not just theoretical’.
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
There is recognition in schools across Australia of a climate for change, the need for experiential learning about the environment, and working to protect it.
As with many Catholic teachers, Maree is inspired by the words of Pope Francis. ‘Today we cannot fail to recognise that a truly ecological social approach should integrate justice in discussions about the environment by listening to the cry of the earth just as much as the cry of the poor.’
One day Maree read the book, Gladys and Stripey: Two little fish on one BIG adventure, to her students out in the garden, and found they were fascinated by the fish ladder in the story. Was it real? Another investigation began.
Gladys and Stripey is a picture book in which each double page spread introduces environmental concepts as primary school readers follow the journey of two little native fish after heavy rain. Healthy waterways, primary and secondary habitats, flooding, an endangered species, fish movement and the fish ladder all feature.
The book was inspired by Scientist John, a fish and river scientist who has spent years protecting small Australian native fish and their habitats. In local school trials, St Bernadette’s won the competition for the most creative, action-oriented response to the book.
The students investigated the water quality of their creek, and with the park rangers’ assistance learned about the importance of water bugs and the complex aquatic ecosystem. To educate others, they designed stencil messages to go on stormwater drain covers: 'what goes down the drain matters'.
On a crisp wintery morning, the Grade 4s, wearing beanies, boots and fluorescent vests, walk to Darebin Creek. The threat of rain abates as energy and excitement levels rise. What the students don’t know is that waiting in the parklands, dressed in waders and surrounded by fish survey nets is Scientist John. (This is their competition prize – a session with the scientist, and the book’s author and publisher – me.)
Students crowd around as the purpose and the ‘how-to’ of fish surveys is demonstrated. Without surveys, how would we know which native fish exist in a waterway? Or how to ensure their conservation?
Soon it’s time to explore the fish ladder. But what that is, and how it works has sent these students’ imaginations soaring. Do fish really climb ladders?
Fish ladders, or fishways, are often built to help fish passage. Like steps on land for us, fish ladders help fish move up or down a steep incline that would otherwise be a barrier. Some fish in this creek swim from the Yarra River into Darebin Creek, and eventually back down to the Yarra River estuary to spawn.
Scientist John also talks about native fish and pest species, how invasive the latter can be, and why protecting small native fish and their habitats is vital. An underwater world students barely knew existed, one they often cycle past, is being brought to life.
Some are as fascinated by the scientist as by the fish ladder. The idea of doing research that can make a real difference strikes a chord. Before we leave, one little girl, who knows I wrote Gladys and Stripey, tells me she’d like to write a story. Do I have any tips?
Well, yes. First, write about what you love or what’s important to you. Second, write without fear. Write with freedom. You can always cross out afterwards. The best writers do.
Later, I reflect. If we encourage a similar approach to the environment, to care for and protect what we love rather than be immobilised by fear, then we are likely to bring out our best in each other as we each make our contributions in this current climate for change.
Michele Gierck is the author of several books. Her latest is Gladys and Stripey: Two little fish on one BIG adventure.
ENVIRONMENT’S EMERGENCY WORKERS
Ranger Sean Willmore, a conservationist and film-maker, set up the Thin Green Line Foundation (TGLF) in 2007 to help rangers who don’t have the resources they need to do their vital work. When speaking to students at his old primary school, the youngsters are in awe. He reminds them how he started out, at St Bernadette’s – just like them.
Sean says, ‘We think rangers are very special people. They protect nature all across the world. They’re emergency workers for the environment – protecting nature just like police, fire and ambulance services protect society. By protecting ecosystems and habitats, rangers are taking immediate, practical and tangible action against the climate emergency,’ he adds.
Yet these rangers face many challenges, from threats by poachers to fighting fires and dealing with wild animals, all while working in remote, wild places. Each year the students at St Bernadette’s run a fundraising event for TGLF. They are keen to contribute however they can.
More information: https://thingreenline.org.au/
LADDERS HELP US GROW
In Darebin Parklands there’s a Spiritual Healing Trail, ‘a gift from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community as a gesture of reconciliation’. The trail leads to five sites. At each one there’s a marker with a reflection written by the traditional custodians of the land, the Wurundjeri people.
Marker 4, at the Darebin Creek Fish Ladder, is called ‘POSSIBILITIES – One step at a time’. ‘The ladder is symbolic of the need to take one step at a time to overcome big obstacles,’ it reads.
It then suggests meditating on a problem the trail walker might have, and thinking about any small steps that can be taken straight away to help resolve that problem. ‘Like the fish ladder, all of us have some “ladders” to help us on our journey.’
It encourages thinking about the family, friends, services or organisations that can help. Once small steps and these personal ladders are identified, it’s time to cross the creek and move on.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
Stewardship - questions and activities
What does it mean to be a steward and how do you do it? Explore the idea with these classroom questions and activities.