Getting started

In partnership with the Centre of Excellence at Richmond Agricultural College, Hamilton Public School (HPS) students engaged in the "No Bees, No Future" program. Students came to gain a deeper understanding of the important role pollinators play in healthy ecosystems. Students investigated polinators in our own garden, soil pH, how bees communicate and the mathematical beauty of these important creatures.

Once the students had a solid understanding of the importance of bees in the local ecosystem the question was asked...

What can we do to promote the sustainability of bees in our community?

Then it was time to ideate!

The Idea

Students decided they would like to create a film that demonstrated the importance of bees in our local community. They wanted to communicate the critical role of the bee and what we can do to protect and sustain their place in and around the green spaces of Hamilton. At this point of the project, students took a deep dive into documentary film making by studying the elements that make a good film. Students asked question like:

• What is the purpose?

• Who will be watching?

• How can I persuade my audience?

• How can I inform my audience?

As students began talking about the ambition of the project they started to connect with other like minded people in the school and wider community. One of those connections was an existing project that had been funded by a Sustainable Schools Grant, which aimed to build connections between classroom learning and our community garden. Our two projects immediately linked together and Blue Gate Garden TV was born!

Lights, Camera, Action!

Take a look at the finished product on the EPISODES page or our very own YouTube channel

The Success Story

Year 6 students from Hamilton Public School created and published 7 episodes of Blue Gate Garden TV. This took a great deal of hard work with several weeks of "regular" class time at the end of Term 2 and beginning of Term 3 2021, dedicated to its creation. Students conducted deep learning in various Key Learning Areas with much syllabus content not only covered but explored with a level of depth and passion not witnessed before by supervising teachers. English, Science and Technology, Mathematics and Geography content was embedded as part of this project. Students were engaged in critical and creative thinking with a desire to use their ideas and writing to bring their cause to life.

In addition to the deep and rich learning that took place among the students, the episodes also reinvigorated the communities passion for our garden and empowered them with knowledge that could be used in their own gardens and green spaces. Episodes were shown weekly as part of our school assembly, posted to the school website and a youtube channel was established. Flowing on from this, the broader student population also became excited by the prospect of working in the garden or being a part of Blue Gate Garden TV themselves. HPS was able to extend funding of this project and two subsequent groups of students have produced episodes awaiting publication.

In the wider public domain, The project was recognised by the NSW Minister for the Environment, Matt Kean as a finalist at the NSW Sustainability Awards. Two HPS students attended the event in the Ernst & Young Building at Circular Quay in Sydney. Not only were the students exposed to the incredible work in Sustainability across a variety of business and industry sectors but their project was showcased in the Youth Action category. The project was also featured on the regional news network's nightly broadcast - NBN News.

Unfortunate and surprising

The value of program was always assumed. Most surprising was just how deep and rich the learning was. Everything that makes an amazing learning program was present. Curriculum content was integrated, the learning required critical and creative thinking and students led the project which ensure it was relevant. It was difficult to determine exactly how the program would fit with in with all the other pressures of school life and the crowded curriculum, however, normal programing was abandoned. This took a leap of faith but the eventual benefit was well worth the sacrifice. Content from across curriculum areas was seamlessly integrated and big concepts like creativity, collaboration and critical thinking became crititial to the success of the program.

Blue Gate Garden TV did not have the wider community impact we had originally desired. While the school cohort responded well and parents enjoyed watching the episodes the reach of the youtube channel, in particular, was dissappointing. The next project HPS pursue will pay more careful attention to the wider community impact.

While the 7 completed episodes were impressive, we were not able to complete all the intended episodes. As a result of the COVID19 lockdowns in NSW from August to October of 2021, the planned filming of another 10 episodes was cancelled. HPS had partnered with the Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre to help produce these episodes through a modified delivery of their "Doco in a Day" program. The cancelation of episodes meant several children did not have their episode produced and published. At the beginning of 2022, we were able to hand the project over to Year 4, who have gone on to publish a further 6 episodes.

Finally, the other area in which we struggled was the creation of our learning journal. The initial plan was to use this website and create regular blog post. While we have extensive records of the learning that took place, time constraints meant we failed to report on our learning in a meaningful way.