The Margaret River Montessori School will hold a special open day this weekend to extend thanks to the local community, whose votes cast online in the SGIO Community Grants program helped the school to secure funding for their Wetlands Restoration Project.
The project aims to encourage local children to become custodians of their community and environment.
Montessori School principal Lisa Fenton said the program offered schools the opportunity to apply for funding, with additional levels of support available if communities rallied around the applicants.
“Our school was very lucky to win a grant through the program, and then we were given the opportunity to ‘double our money’ by seeking online votes from our community,” Ms Fenton said.
“We received a huge number of votes from families and friends of students, teachers and staff.
“Not only did we achieve our goal to double our money thanks to that local support, but we actually gathered the most votes in the whole competition and we received an additional sum on top of the doubled grant.”
Ms Fenton said the wetlands were an important part of students’ understanding of their home environment and how everything in the town connects with waterways.
“This area adjacent to the school is linked to the Margaret River; during summer the water level drops in the wetlands and the water heads out to the river itself.
“We have worked with the Cape to Cape Catchments Group (CCCG) to better understand how we can protect our waterways using techniques such as natural filters,” Ms Fenton said as she demonstrated how a roadside drain was being filtered using plants and rocks.
“The school now has a Land Management Committee who oversee the school’s natural resources and has commissioned an Environmental Management Plan.”
Students from a number of local schools enjoy regular visits to the wetlands as part of their science lessons and the CCCG program.
The open day this Saturday will provide an opportunity for community members, parents and students of all local schools to visit the wetlands and hear from CCCG’S Tracey Muir who will provide water sampling activities and information sessions.
Free activities for kids will be offered and food and coffee vans will be located onsite.
Festivities will begin from 12.30pm until 2.30pm Saturday August 27 at the corner of Betts St and Clarke Rd, Margaret River.