Paddock walk to school
October was ‘walk to school’ month and Ellinbank Primary School had an unusual way to walk to school.
Every student from the school participated, along with several parents and the teachers.
Baw Baw Shire Councillors Mikaela Power and Peter Kostos also joined the walk, along with Baw Baw Shire Community Recreation Officer David McMahon.
The school was led through the laneways and paddocks of the government run Ellinbank Dairy Research working farm by farm managers Greg Morris and Lianne Dorling.
Students were given a guided tour of the farm, stopping along the way to learn how the farm works and some of the interesting wildlife that live there.
The students learnt about the Gippsland giant earthworm that can only be found within a 100km radius of Ellinbank and the rare spiky tailed crayfish that are indigenous to the area.
Mr Morris talked to them about the that platypus live in the creeks and benefits of the native tree plantations that were planted 15 years ago.
The students were very engaged and asked lots of questions. They were most surprised to learn about the unusual foods that the cows can eat, and that scientists work on the farm.
The students learnt about the production of methane from cows, and were surprised that most of the methane production doesn’t come from cows ‘farting’ but actually comes from ‘burping’ while they chew their cuds.
At the end of the walk, the children were given stickers and slap wrist bands.
The school community is proud to support the efforts of the shire in promoting healthy, active lifestyles and was keen to raise awareness of the draft Baw Baw Public Health and Wellbeing Plan 2017-21 that is currently out for community feedback.
Not only did the walk to school encourage a more active lifestyle, but it was an educational experience as well.
Ellinbank Primary School is nestled in the stunning hills of some of the richest dairy farming country in Australia, and is adjacent to Victoria’s dairy research farm.
The school has a proud history of connection to the land, and to local farming families.
The school hopes to foster a greater connection with the research farm and the learning opportunities that this will create.
Following the walk, students wrote and reflected on the experience.
Students said while the walk was tiring, they were surprised to learn several facts.
“I learnt that musical instruments can be made from grass,” Archer, eight, wrote. “At the end, I was as thirsty as a camel.” Layla, also eight, said it was interesting that cows could eat lollies.
“We went up a really really big hill, my legs were about to fall off,” she said. “We also went down a really, really big hill.” “It was funny that the cows ate lollies. They had a whole truckload of lolly snakes,” Beatrice, eight, said.
“It was really tiring but still fun. It was interesting that they put cows in lines and gave lollies to one group and different food in the other group,” Jim, six, said.
“It is interesting that the giant earth worms live one metre under the ground, they are as fat as your thumb and they are only found in this area,” Kane, nine, said.