Saving (Y)our World Instalment 8

Wasting Water    by: Morrigan R

I’m sure you’ve heard something like this before…“limit your shower to 3 minutes”, “don’t leave the tap on while brushing your teeth”, “only use as much water as you need”. Maybe you have heard it before, but have you really listened? The thing is, water is something we all need to survive. But we also use water for lots of other things. How do we make sure we have enough to drink? Right now, we have enough in Melbourne but what about the future? Climate change predictions suggest we may have less water in years to come. You never know, we may be wasting ourselves into oblivion…one drop at a time.

Did you know that only 2.5% of all water on Earth is fresh? And of that, 70% is frozen in glaciers that are slowly melting into the sea. So, although we live on a ‘blue planet’, not much of the water that is present on Earth is available for us to use. Yet almost every organism on this planet that lives on land depends on fresh water. Our lives depend on fresh water. Indeed, the human body is made of 60% water! This means we are literally sending our lifeblood down the drain when we are careless with our water.

How can you stop wasting our precious water? You can start by limiting your showers to 3 minutes or less and making sure that you tighten the taps after you are done so that they don’t drip. Other ways you can help are: turning the tap off while you brush your teeth and pouring your water on a plant or in a pet’s water bowl if you still have some left in your drink bottle. There are even more effective and complicated ways, like grey water usage, where you use rain water and recycled water on your garden and in the toilet bowl. After all, even though we need fresh water to drink, our toilet water and hose water don’t need to be fresh. You see, there are other ways to do things if you only look beneath the surface.

Did you also know that the dams that provide Melbourne with water are only two-thirds full at the moment? What if we have another drought? Will there be enough for people to drink? Droughts are common in Australia and there might be another one just around the corner. We need to always remember this and be careful with how we use water all the time.

I hope you consider this from now on and try not to waste any water. I hope that you start taking shorter showers and use fresh water only on the things that need it. You can help save our water supply, one drop at a time.

Morrigan R signing out. I hope you join me next week for another instalment of saving (Y)our world.

“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry,”          -Thomas Fuller

Saving (Y)our World Instalment No 1 – Cutting down on cutlery

Lots of things we do in life effects nature in ways far worse than you could imagine. But you can become part of the solution rather than the problem. YOU can contribute to saving lives and every little bit helps. At many shops, plastic cutlery comes free with your meal. However, the plastic fork that you use once will stay in the environment for up to one thousand years! But you can do something. The way is as simple as just three little letters--BYO.

All you have to do is get some cutlery from home. Make sure you have a fork, spoon, chopsticks and/or knife—whatever you like to use. Wrap them in a clean piece of material, such as a cloth napkin or a handkerchief (to replace disposable paper napkins). Then, when you order food you say that you have your own cutlery. Just being able to Bring Your Own (BYO) is enough to make a difference. It’s as simple as that! That’s all you have to do. Sustainability is easy, costs almost nothing and can be a great use of old cutlery.

Bringing your own can help you, too. If you BYO, you will be healthier, as people touching your utensils can be a health issue. This is especially important when diseases (such as the coronavirus) are spreading. It is also a simple fact that plastic takes a long time to break down and releases toxins.

Are you going to switch? If you are, then you can rest easy, knowing you’re not killing animals or harming yourself. If you’ve already switched, well done. If you’re not switching, it’s time to consider the effect your actions have on the environment and on you. Sustainability could save your life!   
       

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” – Dr Suess

Morrigan R. signing out. I hope you join me next week for another instalment of Saving (Y)our World.

School Council election 2020

Ten parents have nominated for School Council so a Ballot will be conducted. The candidate statements may assist you with your voting decision; they are an attachment to this post.
The Ballot paper will be issued on Friday, 28 February – the eldest child in the family will receive an envelope (includes the candidates’ statement and the ballot paper). Completed ballots MUST be returned by 4.00 pm, Friday 6^th March. Please ensure you vote according to the instructions so that your vote counts – a clear mark beside 4 candidates ONLY.

Click here to view a copy of the candidates statements.

School Council nominations notification

An election is to be conducted for members of the Avondale Primary School Council to fill the 4 available vacancies.

Click here to read the full list of School Council nominees.

Further information on the election process to be provided next week.

Lions Club International Peace Poster

Avondale Primary has been participating in the International Peace Poster Competition sponsored by The Lion Club of Essendon for a number of years.

2019 has been a successful year with the most entries entered so far.

The winner for 2019 was Kary Wu from 5/6A with her outstanding poster of Journey of peace showing people of different cultures and abilities come as one. Furthermore, this was represented by animals big and small joined in harmony. We wait to hear how Kary has gone in the regional finals.

Our runner ups were Claire Ragusa from 5/6A and Kamia Masonwells from 4/5A with their entries focused on people united together peacefully.

 

Remembrance Day

Today our student leaders represented Avondale Primary School at a Remembrance Day ceremony held at the Keilor East RSL. Each of our students read a verse from a selected poem and participated in laying a wreath on behalf of the students, staff and families of Avondale Primary School.

Lest We Forget.

Raising money for the Leukaemia Foundation

We are supporting members of our community who have been affected by a cancer by holding a Crazy Hair Day.

The highlight is a teacher head shaving event at assembly on Friday morning, October 25th, 2019. 

NAIDOC Week mural

We are very proud to reveal our NAIDOC Week mural painted by visiting indigenous artist Zachary Bennet-Brook from Saltwater Dreamtime. Using themes voted for by students, including the Maribyrnong River, community and journey, Zac was able to teach grades about the importance of art in culture.

Multicultural Week 2019

During Multicultural Week, our students celebrated Italian culture with a pasta making activity. Chefs from 'Big Pocket' educational cooks led students in multi-age groups to make and shape pasta, which students were then able to take home to share with their families.


Photos courtesy of Moonee Valley Leader newspaper

100 Days of Prep!!

Last Friday our Prep students had their one hundredth day at school. To celebrate this milestone our Prep students dressed as a centenarian and celebrated many things to do with the number 100. Many thanks to the parents and class teachers for their enthusiasm and ensuring students had a great day

Jump Rope for Heart

Thank you to all families who assisted us in raising $4,330.77 for the Heart Foundation.
During this week we also raised $886 in school fundraising money from our special lunch order day, which will go towards the purchase of equipment that students can play with during recess times.

Check out our new playground!

We wish to thank parents who have supported recent fundraising activities. We have recently used $20,000 of local fundraising money to install new playground equipment.

Our school council approved the installation of a new suite of playground equipment that has been a hit with all of our junior students.