Resourcesmart is an initiative of Sustainability Victoria and we have progressed through two modules so far- the Core Module and the Waste module. As a result we have just recently been awarded our second star. We have started our third module, it is Biodiversity which has been sponsored by the Hume Council.
One of the first steps we needed to undertake is an audit of our school grounds. On Tuesday the 31st of July we started our audit. Lorna from Ceres is our facilitator and she brought along two helpers from Ceres Tiff and Deanne. We also had the following parents assist us for the afternoon- Edwina, Gillian, Dee, Belen and Paula. They were an energetic and enthusiastic team to work with throughout the afternoon. A very big thank you for your time and assistance.
The children were a mix from across the Studios from foundation children to year sixes. They were put into seven groups and gave themselves a name. The main focus of the afternoon was to complete an audit looking at particular areas such as organic litter, environmental weeds etc.
| Group name | Butterflies | Wombat | Dingoes | Koalas |
| Area of focus | Organic Litter | Soil, logs and rocks | Environmental weeds | Tree measurements |
| Names of children | Leilani Brianna Zac Kartik Ben | Elle Frankie Xavier Aiden S | Naman Caeli Aleena Matisse | Max Kayla P Lillian Amanda |
| Group name | Orange Bellied Parrots | Kookaburras | Kangaroos |
| Area of focus | Habitat extras | Understorey and vegetation structure | Surfaces of the school |
| Names of children | Jayrus Thomas Angelique Damon | Isabella A Zacharia Jude Klara | Kamryn Glynn Nethmi Ethan |
Each group had an adult to assist them and a checklist. As they went around the school grounds they were scientists- they were researching, making observations, recording observations, answering specific questions and sorting out their data.
Once they returned to the meeting room the groups were asked to record their thinking, their results, and their findings on posters to share with the community. As you can see by the photos the children were totally focussed Scientists and explorers.
As a result of all the data being entered into the audit we now know what areas of the school grounds we need to focus on, the changes we can make and how to improve our Biodiversity at Mother Teresa P.S.
