Lyndale Primary School students (from left) Raphael, Teagan, Glady and Zainab prepare for an insect habitat after the school received a Greening Grant.
By Shaun Inguanzo
STUDENTS at Lyndale Primary School are abuzz after the school was awarded a special grant to help build an insect habitat to enhance their learning.
And the school is expected to apply its legendary ‘Lyndale squeeze’ planting technique as it toils away at the new habitat over the coming year, thanks to a $500 grant from Greening Australia and CityLink.
Lyndale Primary School’s large environmental focus led it to apply for the grant, according to science and environment coordinator, Judith Sise.
Under Ms Sise’s guiding hand, grade five and six students will help to construct a habitat consisting largely of native grasses in a bid to attract fascinating insects and small skinks to the school grounds for students to study.
Ms Sise said studying the environment through practical work was beneficial to students, particularly those who came from migrant families.
“We are trying to give them an awareness of the Australian environment and how fragile it is, and how to take care of it,” she said.
Ms Sise said students learned about Australian plants, used verbal communication skills which improved their English, and gained an understanding of how to protect the environment.
To celebrate the school’s 50th birthday this year, Ms Sise said the habitat would also function as a garden, with pavers being placed to commemorate the birthday.
The Lyndale squeeze is the name affectionately given by Ms Sise to the technique of planting.
After removing the shrub from a tube, students simply ‘rub the roots off and give the plant a gentle Lyndale squeeze to loosen the dirt, then place your fingers across the top, tip it out and put it in the bed’.
