The Quiet Quad
In 2020, Mr Davison came to the SNT and asked our team to report on the fragile nature of leaf litter in the Quiet Quad. The quad contains its own delicate ecosystem and native animals, such as ringtail possums. This beautiful place in our school was created in 2006 by Mr Cohen and his Year 12 Construction class and was maintained for many years by Terry Rankmore. Today, the quad is surrounded by leaf litter, which acts as a protective layer for insects and animals.
Over the past few years, the SNT have created whole-school lessons on the importance of protecting leaf litter, rallied for a path to be built towards F-block to reduce students trampling the ecosystem within the quad, and worked hard to educate others and promote a sense of sustainability within our school.
Inspiring Others
Year 7 students study the concept of Sustainability within many of their school subjects. Ms McLoughlin's 2020 7S English class, after studying sustainable living, noticed the amount of rubbish around Lake Illawarra and our school. Students conducted research into the types of litter found and the impact it was having on our surrounding environment. 7S English and the Student News Team worked together to create a whole-school learning resource and a competition to design a pathway through the Quiet Quad, in hopes of protecting ecosystems within our school.
The whole school had the chance to learn about respecting our environment and the importance of not disturbing the leaf litter. Mrs Willingham also noticed the determination of our SNT and approached the team with an opportunity.
The New Bridge
One year later, in 2021, Mrs Willingham and Mr Cohen organised the Year 10 and 11 Construction students to install a new pathway through the Quiet Quad. The delicate ecosystems within our school continue to thrive. The SNT seek to implement ways in which our school can be more sustainable. In 2021, Mr Carrett's Year 11 Industrial Technology Timber students built possum huts as a safe haven for frightened possums. The Student News Team are hoping to have the possum huts installed in 2022.