Caz Boyd

Who would have thought our project could come so far in such a short time?!

We've been overwhelmed by support from our product sponsors who have offered plants, soil, mulch, cement, weed matting and design help - just to name a few. Local businesses have also pitched in with products and vouchers to encourage donations. And we've been visited by many important people including our federal MP, mayor, state MP, NRM office, Landcare and Nature Play SA.

BUT RIGHT NOW we still need more donations to help fund our project, which has a groundswell of support inside and outside of our lovely community.

MITCHAM PRIMARY SCHOOL in Adelaide wants to take a disused area at our school and convert it into an inspiring nature play zone for our 700 students. The kids are on board and excited. Now we just need to raise the funds to do it.

During the journey of our Pozible campaign we have decided to revamp the entire school grounds over multi-year projects.
With your help, we are hoping to push through to our ULTIMATE GOAL of $30,000 to create a truly amazing space. If we are lucky enough to raise more than this, we will widen the project to other areas of our school grounds, because the long-term aim is to create AN ENTIRE SCHOOL that is low-water use and "natified".

Where there are now weeds, we'll place playful sculptures, large wooden logs, over-sized stones and layers of native plants - vital for creating biodiversity. It'll be a land of bees, butterflies and plenty of learning.

The concept is simple - create a space where kids can get back to nature and learn about sustainability firsthand. The outcomes are much deeper.

Adelaide only retains about 4 per cent of its original native vegetation, and we can help put that right. We hope to inspire children and families to follow suit.

We live in the driest capital city in Australia and want to reduce our reliance on water and mowing by using drought-tolerant native ground covers, shrubs and grasses. The understorey plants will  retain fallen leaves, which will create healthier soil and benefit the large trees planted in the patch.

Then there's the education component. This area will fit in with classroom teaching across many subjects and is line with a more play-based hands-on pedagogy (The Walker Learning Approach) that we're using in our junior school to engage our young learners. There is a host of research that shows the benefit of nature play for children and we want to tap into this potential. Mitcham Primary wants to make land care and sustainability fun and informative!

Lastly, we just want a space where the kids can't help but be active. According to Nature Play SA, Australian children are now spending less time outdoors than ever. And in South Australia, children spend an average of 4.5 hours a day in front of a screen, exceeding the national average by half an hour. Our space will be also used by the community on weekends and after school, so its an initiative that can have a real impact on a lot of people.

Understanding what we should plant – thanks to fantastic resources of Landcare Australia and our friends at the State Flora Nursery in Belair – is relatively straightforward. We just need the funds to do it. PLEASE help us with a donation. 


               

THE INITIAL TARGET
Once we know our budget (we're crossing our fingers you'll help us to reach our ultimate $30,000 goal), we will bring the kids in and get them involved in the design. If we're going to inspire the children we need to include them from the outset.

If we hit our basic $3000 target, we can clear the weeds, craft a dry rock and sand river and fashion a mud digging patch. Then we'll bring in a few hundred native seedlings and finish the area with layers of mulch from Jeffries, a fantastic Adelaide supplier who recycles all the green waste from our area. (They even recycle food scraps, including meat, thanks to some great tech they have at their plant).



We have many large gum trees at school that regularly need trimming, so over time we will add branches and rounds from these as play elements. And Paul from Adelaide Rural & Salvage has come on board with some limestone boulders from his farm.




We're going to protect our baby plants with removable Greenwell Water Savers (an SA company). These will reduce our water use and keep small feet away from the plants until they have grown. The manufacturer has  donated 20 Greenwells to protect our first batch of plants.  ( Brian, Greenwell's inventor, is a true gentleman!) Thanks too, to Mitre 10 Glenunga.





We want to incorporate some recycled elements - because it's good for the environment AND because it teaches the children about our scarce resources. Take, for example, these old chair legs and ceiling fan blades refashioned as dragonflies.





Here are some images inspiring us...












STRETCH GOAL
If we raise $9000 we can do all of the above plus commission Indigenous artist Glenn Romanis to carve some of his amazing wooden animals. He makes gorgeous wombats.



Glenn also makes beautiful echnidnas that would be loved by the children, and would really highlight the garden's theme. They are big enough to climb and sit on. As well as looking awesome, they will inspire active and creative play.

ULTIMATE TARGET
Our dream is to raise $30,000 to also incorporate one of these amazing sculptures from Victorian artist Phil Stray. They take several people more than a week to make on site and are crafted from concrete. One of these could be fashioned to form seating for an outdoor classroom. Now that really would be inspiring!


This Gecko would really fire up the imaginations of our younger students....




Or, very fittingly for Adelaide, a Blue Tongue Lizard would be the starting point of many lessons about conservation and the effect of urban living on the environment.





Can't you just see him among native lomandra or dianella or other grasses, like these fish?



We already have had the steel donated to strengthen our giant critter. Thanks to Southern Steel Supplies.



And concrete from ResourceCo, an amazing SA company that uses recycled materials in its products.


We really hope you can support us too. We've got all the groundwork in place but we still need up to $30,000 to fulfill our dreams. Watching the video above, it's easy to see how inspired our students already are. And our journey has only just begun!








THEN we'll be able to say....