Tarana: A lesson in sustainability

G’day. You know the buzz word now in Education is Sustainability and rightly so or the kids won’t have a decent planet to live in. Maybe schools near you have picked up the mantel and come up with good projects. The local school is gearing up to water tanks, solar energy and having every class develop their own vegetable patch and recycling is all the go, as it should be.

These are great ideas but very different to my school experience with sustainability! When I was training to be a teacher in Small country schools I was placed in one near Bathurst that took the prize for economic ingenuity, happy kids, very satisfied parents and one fairly rich teacher. This teacher, Noel, had a unique system – he had about 20 sheep in his large playground, each stamped large with O S (On service). When I arrived to observe the master in action, the first thing, after the anthem, was that several of the children who were not good at school work were immediately dispatched to garden duty, another two strugglers were sent to check on the sheep and one was assigned as the “Cockatoo” onto the verandah to keep a look out for any sightings of a School Inspector or other Education Department officers. The roles weren’t really rotated but members of the gardening squad were allowed back in to the classroom after lunch for more practical subjects – so most kids got a turn doing something for the collective good.

At least twice a year Noel would take the produce to the markets in Bathurst and dispatch the sheep to the stock yards – he would have a big weekend living it up in Bathurst on half the proceeds. The other half went to the P and C – so no one thought of him as greedy or selfish. No, Noel had the welfare of the school at heart!.

The parents were very happy, not only were their children getting a “well-rounded” practical education but Noel had also been a panel beater before he went into teaching! So any dings or scrapes or even car servicing Noel could fix up and save the locals a trip into town! So the fact that his teaching methods were a little unorthodox and could hardly be called remedial, didn’t worry them; indeed the thought of someone reporting Noel for lack of attention to curriculum guidelines was anathema because the kids were happy and if they dobbed him in, the net effect is that they would well lose their P and C income and their panel beater!

Concepts of sustainability have changed radically and for the better. Back then it was Noel’s life style that he was sustaining! However Noel argued that it was the small rural community that he was sustaining. Whatever your circumstances or philosophy, I do hope your school is actively campaigning for sustainable futures and doing practical projects to make it happen. If not, maybe offer the school a hand to get things underway. We all can and need to do better if we’re to give our kids a chance to enjoy this wonderful world in which we live.

Noel, I couldn’t say you were my Humble Hero but I know you were a legend to many struggling farming.

If you have someone at your school doing great things for the environment then let me hear their story and they can rightfully claim a place in the Humble Heroes Hall of Fame.