Hi Landcarer’s

Finally!….we get to spend time with our Kindergarten classes again!

After two years of no Kindergarten Enviro mornings, we were pleased to welcome back Parkes Public School and Parkes Christian school to Kelly Reserve for our morning of fun learning about water and how we impact what goes in our waterways…and finding out about some of the water courses that we have in our area.

In partnership with Parkes Shire Council, Central West Lachlan Landcare were thrilled to host the day with over 80 students joining in educational activities to learn more about looking after our waterways. Students participated in workshops covering wetlands, waterbugs, water sources and a story of a river.

After his best efforts to find waterbugs for the workshop on Tuesday, Michael Chambers found that after the significant rain we have had, there were none to be found…a good discussion point in itself! Some amazing artwork was created by students who drew pictures of their own waterbugs, or their favourite waterbugs.

Hannah Farrant-Jayet talked to children about our water systems and pollutants, using waterbeads to represent our waste water and show that over 99% of what goes down our drains and sinks is actually water that can be recycled for reuse. Of everything that you put down our drain….less than 1% is waste, the rest of the water that can be used on sporting fields and other open spaces.

Sharyn Ware shared the Story of a River, which was an opportunity for students to act out a story showing where contaminants may come from just in our everyday activities, with some interesting results.

I had the opportunity to talk about wetlands (and waterways), flagging some of the wetland spaces that we have in our local communities and the important role that they play in absorbing contaminants, slowing the flow of water and providing habitat for local birds, fish and turtles.

A massive thank you to our presenters, parents and teachers for being part of the morning. The weather was perfect…even after a storm the evening before and it was fabulous to have so many children participating and using the space at Kelly Reserve.

We are looking forward to being able to make these workshops accessible to more children in 2023.

More pics via our social media pages @cwllandcare or contact Marg Applebee on 0418 611 053.