We are in the season of Djilba marked by cool days sprinkled with warmth – nature’s way of announcing the arrival of the first spring
This season of fertility brings a burst of colour to the Peninsula. Native wildflowers are in full bloom, with prominent yellow hues typical over Djilba Hibbertias and acacias are flowering in abundance, adding to the vibrant display.
All of our native seedlings have been planted for the year and have been soaking up the winter rains These young plants are beginning to form communities both above and below ground, sending down deep roots in preparation for the summer ahead.
In celebration of National Tree Planting Day, the boys installed 50 native seedlings, bringing this year’s total to 290 native plants! About one-third of these are tree species.
Our regular Thursday bush carers have been expanding their skills, learning the correct techniques for pruning trees and shrubs, which forms an important part of maintaining healthy bushland.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Mt Henry Peninsula Conservation Group
Ms Izzy Streckhardt - izzy.streckhardt@aquinas.wa.edu.au
Weeding efforts have focused
Access to high-quality mulch for our paths has been challenging due to the presence of polyphagous shot-hole borer across Perth After our mulch pile sat low for several weeks, the boys have now been able to use mulch made on-site from trees removed for the new development. You really can’t get more local than this, and it will go a long way in helping maintain access to our beautiful Peninsula
on Veldt grass, Yellow soldiers, Fumitory, and Pink Gladioli
NATIONAL TREE DAY
To help Aquinas College celebrate National School Tree Planting Day, Perth NRM generously sponsored 50 native seedlings Mount Henry Peninsula Coordinator Izzy Streckhardt was thrilled to be invited to the celebration, hosted by Perth NRM at the Wetlands Centre Cockburn. Ms Streckhardt proudly represented Aquinas College during the event and collected the seedlings on the school’s behalf.
The seedlings were installed over two sessions, with all species installed at the Peninsula carefully selected to match the existing vegetation complex
Our dedicated Thursday after-school bush carers (top right) planted them across the 2025 revegetation site near the water tank It was heartening to see our well-seasoned carers buddy up with new recruits, passing on their knowledge about correct planting techniques and how to properly install our re-used tree guards from previous years.
During the second session, 25 native seedlings were also planted by Junior School class 3W (bottom right) in a degraded area along the fence at the edge of Clery Park. Species included casuarina trees (she-oaks), several hakeas, and a mix of other local herbs and shrubs, helping to restore biodiversity and improve habitat quality in the area.
Above: National School Tree Planting Day celebration at the Wetlands Centre Cockburn with Aquinas College representative Izzy Streckhardt (photo credit: PerthNRM)
JUNIOR SCHOOL BUSH CARE
Several Junior School bush care sessions had to be postponed due to wet weather and we’re looking forward to welcoming the affected classes to the Peninsula over the coming weeks. The sessions that did go ahead certainly made up for the ones we missed!
Class 3W planted some of our National Tree Day native seedlings (see previous page), and many novice tree planters quickly became experts over the session The only disappointment was having to wrap up because we ran out of time and out of plants! The boys did a fantastic job, and it shows yet again that no age is too young to get involved in hands-on bush care.
Class 6W put their muscles to work helping with mulching as we continue making our way around the Peninsula track Starting from the top of the point, the students worked steadily downhill and the sections we’ve been tackling over the past few months are now almost connected!
Despite the blustery weather, the boys stayed engaged and showed great teamwork throughout the session. Their contribution is helping to improve track access and protect the surrounding bushland.
Above: Class 3W installing native seedlings near Clery Oval
Above: Class 6W bush carers assisting with path maintenance
JUNIOR SCHOOL BUSH CARE (CONTINUED)
Our pre-primary students from Years 1 and 2 and Class 3B were all lucky to participate in our Mount Henry Peninsula Scavenger Hunt over the last few weeks and boy did they have a blast!
They learnt how to detect visiting Red-tailed black-cockatoos by keeping an eye out for dropped gum nuts and banksia pods with characteristic chew marks. When searching for something yellow, the boys discovered that the majority of native flowers are currently yellow and learnt that this is nature’s way of telling us that we are in the season of Djilba. And while looking for a weed, we discussed that there are no ‘bad’ plants and any weed is simply a plant out of place
Above: Pre-Primary, Year 1 and Year 2 students during their scavenger hunts Many thanks to the teachers for taking and providing photos
AFTER SCHOOL BUSH CARE
It’s been a busy few weeks for our after-school bush carers At the beginning of the term, they finished installing the remaining native tubestock at this year’s revegetation site near the water tank, which they had been preparing throughout Term 2. The seedlings are looking great and some are already beginning to poke their heads out of green tree guards.
The boys also learnt how to safely and correctly use loppers, secateurs and hand saws to prune shrubs off our pathway. They learnt about the three-cut method when using a saw for pruning, which avoids bark being stripped from the tree and ensures the branch drops in a safe and predictable way.
Path maintenance has been ongoing using our new mulch Both natives and weeds have been loving all the rain we have been getting, so most of our sessions included hand weeding of grasses and fumitory weeds, with some yellow soldiers and pink gladioli in the mix.
The boys also gut stuck into the 10-minute Pick up the Pieces challenge during the Keep Australia Beautiful Week They split into two teams to see which group could collect the most litter along the bush track near the freeway fence Between the two teams, they gathered an entire wheelbarrow worth of litter, which had blown in from from the freeway. That’s a lot of litter saved from going into the environment and waterways. Well done, team!
AFTER SCHOOL BUSH CARE (CONTINUED)
Above: Planting native tubestock and installing re-used tree guards (left) and the bush carers ready for pruning (right)
Above: Hand weeding fumitory weeds, which can quickly smother native plants
Above: Lots of trips to and from the mulch pile!
SATURDAY BUSH CARE
While the weather was not always in our favour and a couple of Saturday sessions had to be cancelled due to rain and storms, the sessions that went ahead were blessed with blue skies and sunshine. We split the afternoon sessions into two parts, starting with hand weeding, followed by a break with afternoon tea to then get stuck into some path maintenance and mulching
Our Saturday afternoon sessions with up to 25 students are always a fantastic boost to our regular bush care efforts and it’s been great to see members of the community join and volunteer again!
Above: Hand-weeding and path maintenance efforts on our Saturday bush care afternoons
A TREE CHANGE FOR OUR OSPREYS
Our resident ospreys have not returned to their nest on the Peninsula this year and we have strong suspicions that they opted for a tree change to mix things up, as a pair of ospreys have recently been spotted across the river building a nest in the middle of Shelley Ovalon top of a light tower, of all places!
They have been using another oval light as their feeding pole, which means that dog walkers and other park users have been stumbling across leftover bits of fish and fish skeletons, surely resulting in some puzzled faces. We have been observing the ospreys crossing the peninsula over the last weeks and wish them all the best in their current spot!
Did you know?
Ospreys carry fish headfirst after taking flight to reduce aerodynamic drag, making it easier to fly with their catch!
Above: Our Ospreys have likely headed to Shelley Oval in Canning this year.
MCDOUGALL FARM COMMUNITY GARDEN
On Sunday 17 August 2025, the McDougall Farm Community Garden held an Open Day as part of the South Perth Arts and Crafts Open Day. Visitors admired the efforts of our student and community volunteers, and many took part in a hands-on activity to learn how to make their own plant pods from newspaper. We hope everyone’s seedlings are doing well!
Our boys have been assisting the community garden volunteers on their regular Wednesday after-school Service Learning afternoons with making compost, preparing garden beds, lots and lots (and lots!) of hand weeding, plus planting out seedlings, many of which they raised from seeds. Great effort, everyone!
Do you love gardening and connecting with community?
If you're a local resident and would like to get involved at the McDougall Farm Community garden, we’d love to hear from you! Membership is free, and we’re actively looking for a few more volunteers to join our growing team.
To find out more, head to www.aquinas.wa.edu.au/community/mcdougallfarmcg or get get in touch with Izzy at McDougallFarmCG@aquinas.wa.edu.au
above: a Year 7 group learning about our two-bin stations. They will carry out a hands-on bin-sort next week!
SUSTAINABILITY COUNCIL
Thanks to a successful WasteSorted grant, we are rolling out new bin signage! In our outdoor areas, we use a two-bin system: One bin is for Containers for Change (CfC) items ONLY The other bin is for EVERYTHING else
Our Sustainability Council is looking for more students! Want to join and make a difference?
To keep our CfC bins free from contamination, it’s important that only eligible containers go in Students and staff – please take a moment to check out the new signs designed by our Sustainability Council. They’ve worked hard to make it easier to understand what goes where, so we can all do our part to reduce waste and recycle correctly. Contact Mrs Monks at megan.monks@aquinas.wa.edu.au or Ms Streckhardt at izzy.streckhardt@aquinas.wa.edu.au. We meet aim to meet fortnightly during tutor.
UPCOMING BUSH CARE SESSIONS
With the weather warming up and snakes soon becoming more active again, student bush care sessions are starting to wind down for the year.
We only have a couple of Thursday afterschool bush care afternoons left, as well as a few Junior School catch-up sessions that had to be postponed Some of the Junior School sessions may flow into early Term 4, as we are welcoming dryer days.
And, at last, a warm and heartfelt thank you to our regular teacher volunteers Ms Pederson, Ms Trew and Mr Kostecki, as we could not be running our sessions without their additional support and supervision!
Can you join our bush care efforts over summer?
If you are a parent, friend, or local resident interested in bush care, please get in touch!
Our efforts will focus on hand watering our new native seedlings, tending to their tree guards, as well as some hand weeding, to give them them best chance of survival.
Times and dates to be decided to suit the volunteers best.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Mt Henry Peninsula Conservation Group
Ms Izzy Streckhardt - izzy streckhardt@aquinas wa edu au
