Sunday 30 March 2008

Congratulations must go to the members of our school family who showed up for the Working Bee. The large number of willing workers was a very pleasant surprise and they are much appreciated. They signed in, read the safety guidelines and identified which areas they would tackle.

It was wonderful to see so many happy faces pitching in with hand-pulling weeds, mulching, marking boundaries and generally tidying up the gardens near the entrance at Ridgecrop Drive and around the hall. Our relieving Deputy Principal, Cathie Barclay captured the moment on camera and will be liaising with Sue Bell to show some photos on the school’s website.

We all enjoyed a refreshing morning tea in the staff room with scones baked by our multi-skilled acting Principal Mary-Ann Martin. Mothers also provided some food. The students had fun pretending to be teachers and sitting at the staff room tables! Mums and Dads congregated for a chat and a cuppa.

Soon it was back into the garden for another round of garden maintenance. This time a group volunteered to plant native plants at both ends of the school. The local group of the Australian Plants Society whom you may have seen at the fete donated these plants. In the meantime, other parents moved on to the Gilbert Road gardens to remove weeds.

Older children were keen to help and learn new skills in the garden. Younger ones kept winning smiles from us all with their tiny gardener attempts and very cute appearance. Childrens’ tools were available and some parents even brought along a mini-sized wheelbarrow.

As a volunteer gardener at the school, I would like to thank each and every person who participated for giving up their time and energy to improving the school’s natural environment. It was the best Working Bee ever!

There is more to do in other areas of the school, eg returning our remnant Sydney Turpentine/Ironbark forest to its natural state , and planting trees in the seated area where we lost so many last November. Please think about helping to keep our school beautiful next time we get together.

I am looking forward to the next Working Bee in Term 2. Hope to see you there! Christine Coe

These photos and more in the Photo Album