NEWS DESK
Drink up: St Louis de Montfort School receives the Sustainability Award from James Merlino, pictured here with students Tyler Billing, Ashlinn Reilly and Jake Kovacs. Tyler initially wrote to Mr Merlino about the school’s Sustainability Precinct. There are feeding a Persian miniature sheep. Picture: Gary Sissons
School gets a gong for teaching sustainability from the ground up ST LOUIS de Montfort Primary School in Aspendale has received a 5 Star ResourceSmart Certification for its award-winning Sustainability Precinct. The award was presented this week by Education Minister James Merlino and Mordialloc MP Tim Richardson. The certification represents a big milestone on the school’s sustainability journey, and recognises the hard work of teachers, staff and students. The Sustainability Precinct features an outdoor kitchen, vegetable gardens, compost, worm farms, propagating house, wetlands, permaculture area, aquaponics, orchard and animal enclosures with chooks, ducks, geese,
rabbits, guinea pigs and birds. It was developed in 2013 and has since been recognised as one of the best school-based sustainability projects in Victoria, staff say. St Louis de Montfort won the Education Category of the 2014 Premier’s Sustainability Awards, while the precinct also received two awards in last year’s ResourceSmart Schools Awards. These were for water sustainability and for having the primary school teacher of the year: sustainability leader Julie Wynne. The precinct also took out last year’s Kevin Heinze Perpetual Award, which is a top honour in the Victorian Schools Garden Awards.
Mr Merlino described the sustainability precinct as a “wonderful example of a program that engages students with real-world experiences, allowing them to participate first-hand in sustainability”. “This one-of-a-kind facility provides students with an opportunity to gain a powerful understanding of sustainability from the ground up,” he said. Mr Richardson said the certification recognised the great work of the dedicated teachers and staff. “They’re giving kids a fantastic, hands-on understanding of sustainability and the environment.”
Visit Chelsea police, MP asks minister Steve Taylor steve@baysidenews.com.au MORDIALLOC Labor MP Tim Richardson has asked the Minister for Police to visit Chelsea Police Station “to hear from local police officers and get an update on some of the priorities in my local area”. This comes after the National Police Remembrance Day on 29 September, and also after the release of reports highlighting the mental health toll on police. Speaking in Parliament, Mr Richardson told the minister, Wade Noonan, that police do “an incredible job of protecting our community and keeping our local communities safe”. “Sometimes it is a thankless task, with officers placed in unpredictable and dangerous situations,” he said. “On many occasions they are present at the lowest point in people’s lives, whether it is the loss of a loved one or attendance at frequent family violence incidents.” He said reports told of the mental health toll on police over the past two decades and the need to provide more support services to the 13,000-strong force. “In addition to these challenges,
there is no doubt that the impact of family violence is widespread in our community, including in the City of Kingston. “Tragically, each and every week, a woman is killed by her current or former partner. We know that family violence is the leading contributor of death, injury and disability for Victorian women aged under 45 years.” Last year, more than 68,000 incidents of family violence were reported to Victoria Police, with many more going unreported. “As a community we should be ashamed of these terrible statistics and do all we can to support the work of the Royal Commission into Family Violence and various agencies, including our dedicated Victorian police force,” Mr Richardson said. “After all, on so many occasions it is the police who confront these horrors and are overwhelmed by trying to deal with these systemic challenges and protecting the most vulnerable: the women and children in our community. “I ask the Minister for Police to visit our local police station in Chelsea to get an update on these priorities and hear directly about the challenges facing Victoria Police.”
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