Year seven Links to Learning students from Boorowa Central School took part in a bee conservation excursion in Canberra in late May with teacher Susan Fagan and Boorowa Landcare coordinator Linda Cavanagh.
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The Links to Learning Program is funded by the NSW Government and administered by the NSW Department of Education. The Southern Region Business Enterprise Centre (BEC) delivers the program to the students at Boorowa Central, one day a week.
The program aims to development students' self-esteem, confidence and resilience, improve their ability to manage themselves and their relationships with others, help them develop a sense of purpose and aspirations for their future.
The gardens gave the students an opportunity to explore Australia’s diverse and spectacular flora amongst Canberra’s bushland setting. It is really the only place in the world that you can see the diversity of Australian Native plants in one location.
Mr Deakes felt right at home in the Sydney sandstone region flora section and shared stories with the boys about growing up in bushland like this.
We than walked on to the Red Centre garden, where we experienced the unique landscape and colours of Central Australia. We got friendly with a Thorny Devil and then we wound our way through rocky outcrops in the desert.
Then found a restful spot to relax on the Eucalyptus lawn and had a picnic, while being surrounded by more than 70 species of well known trees.
After lunch we found the main reason for the trip, the Native Bee Hotel, which was especially interesting for the students, as Miss Fagan has been teaching them about our essential pollinators and how we can help to create an environment for them to breed and build in numbers. This is the main topic for the students project, as they will be making some small scale Hostels for the native pollinators.
Then we walked through the Rock Garden with wallabies, and onto Rainforest Gully. With the amazing foggy mist, we couldn’t see the person just in front of us! We felt like we were taking a journey through a rainforest in Tasmania.
The afternoon saw us practice some strong social skills, including negotiating, supporting others and bonding with those around us through participating in some friendly competitive bowling and laser at Belconnen before heading back home on the bus. What an awesome day!
Thank you to Boorowa Central for sharing this experience with Boorowa Landcare and we look forward to seeing the Native Bee Hotels that the boys create when they are back at school.
