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EDEN Project – A place to learn and play Good Shepherd Lutheran School, Angaston
Our context
The EDEN Project (‘Explore Discover Engage with Nature’) is a precious patch of land with a creek at the back of our primary school in the Barossa Valley consisting of 109 students and 17 staff. A few years back it was to become a hockey field, however parents envisioned it as an area for nature play. The school has had a SEMP for the past 3 years, which has recently incorporated the use of EDEN, and is using the Core Indicators EfS rubric, as well as including sustainability in its Professional Learning Plan where staff are to use EDEN as an exciting learning area.
EDEN Project seen from the air 2015, showing
separate sections, each of which is adopted by a
different class. The whole is greater than the sum
of its parts.
Our vision and values for a more sustainable world
Our draft vision statement reads: ‘EDEN is a place for the community to appreciate and be curious in God’s creation of nature. We aim to use natural materials whenever possible and to plant local native plants. It will be a place where we can learn and play.’
Our sustainability initiatives
What started as a parent initiative as an on- ground project to rehabilitate some school land has evolved into a much deeper project that is becoming embedded into the school culture. This has come about by creating and viewing the space as both a playspace and a learning space, the latter by making connections to the curriculum.
Curriculum Connections
Moving beyond on-ground actions, the exciting challenge for 2016 is to embed the project into curriculum, to ensure the project truly becomes a part of the school culture. To this end several EfS initiatives have been undertaken (aligning with our Core Indicator rubric: Culture/Challenging stage):
1 the EDEN Project is flagged as an agenda
item at each staff meeting and teachers
report on their class’s individual progress
2 Staff are required to report on curriculum
integration of their space in their PLP
(Professional Learning Plan),
demonstrating how they are using the
nature space in their structured learning.
We acknowledge the potential for both structured (teacher-directed) and unstructured (nature play) learning taking place in EDEN.
Connecting with community
The project has input from some passionate parent key drivers, Governing Council, a sustainability group, God’s Little Helpers (student groups), staff and students all working together . The information gained at staff meetings that shows what has been happening in classes has been recorded in a book, so the different groups are able to keep up to date with progress.
Our key parent driver secured a $31,000 grant which helped get the project started.
Staff also include in their newsletters what has been happening in the class with EDEN, to keep the parents informed and involved when they can.
The 6/7 class is planning to join with the adjacent Early Learning Centre to help with maintenance and their projects, as it will be an area they can use too.
Parents have been invited to tree planting sessions with the students and working bees in EDEN.
Our story has been shared in the NRM Education Weekly e-Digest and ‘The Lutheran’ magazine (Australia-wide).
The EDEN Project attracts many visitors from
other schools.
Meeting challenges
Site maintenance: since the area is quite bare, there have been a lot of weeds come up. We are trying to overcome that by allocating areas for classes to maintain. Classes have buddied up and every fortnight they go out together to weed, especially around the plants. We have also been given a grant for weed control, which has helped.
Watering: there hasn’t been enough rainfall to water the trees, so buddy classes have also been watering the trees.
Time: classes have found it difficult to find time to work on the project during class time. It has helped sharing at staff meetings what we have been doing, as it gives us ideas how to use it in the curriculum and reminds us what we can do.
NRM Education support
NRM Education have made themselves available for meetings with staff to discuss how we can incorporate EDEN into the curriculum and to encourage the deeper learning and connection.
They have also made local resources available, such as information about native birds and also made us aware of resources online.
Communication and participation The EDEN Project consists of some ten discrete areas, each of which has been adopted by different buddy classes. Two things happen here: 1 class Action Teams help maintain their area Friday afternoons once a fortnight 2 they also develop the space by taking responsibility for creating and designing an activity in that space. Students are thereby involved in the process. Many schools have come to inspect the EDEN site and have asked questions about the journey and curriculum links.
We hosted a Nature Space PD, which was attended by over 30 staff and included an interview with two main drivers of the project. We also invited Sarah Sutter, CEO of NaturePlay SA to talk to the community about the benefits of Nature Play.
There is time allocated to staff meetings where staff share what has been happening in their class with EDEN and it is written up in a book for other groups to read, such as Governing Council.
Outcomes
1 Stewardship: principal Anne Marschall
says being a Christian school gives EDEN
extra relevance: ‘there is an aspect there
of caring for God’s creation and
stewardship, using what we’ve got
wisely’.
2 Curriculum integration is beginning to
happen, aided by staff formally sharing
how they are using EDEN in their
teaching. This is helping embed the
project into the school curriculum.
3 Education: it is an opportunity to help
the staff, students and parents develop
an appreciation and understanding of the
natural world.
4 Fun and Play, Well-being: the creation of
an invaluable playspace where children
naturally head to after school
5 Environment: there are many benefits to
the environment. Students are becoming
educated in the process of finding out
how to care for the natural environment.
6 Ownership: it is an opportunity for
students to feel an ownership of the
project by contributing ideas and actions
to their allocated areas (of which there
are 10).
7 Inclusivity: an inclusive approach
involving all the groups involved, such as
the Governing Council, Facilities
subcommittee, parent volunteers, NRM
Education, students and staff.
Next steps
consolidate the strategic initiatives by reviewing progress at staff and principals’ meetings
formalise a working group to meet once a term that will include parent driver, key teacher, principal and NRM Education rep.
get funding to help with individual class projects within the larger EDEN project
present a paper on the EDEN project at the AAEE national conference in Adelaide in October
lead a workshop for the 2017 ACLE Conference in Adelaide to show how students connect with the awe and wonder of God’s creation via the EDEN Project
make authentic connections with our Units of Inquiry (IB) wherever possible, such as looking at the needs of wildlife and planting appropriate local native species
For more information Good Shepherd Lutheran School, Angaston
School contact, Anne Marschall, Principal
www.goodshepherd.sa.edu.au
For other similar case studies by NRM Education:
www.naturalresources.sa.gov.au/adelaidemtloftyranges/
