This hands-on initiative aims to teach students the principles of sustainable farming and permaculture.
Permaculture is the practice of no-waste gardening and creating a small, self-supporting ecosystem.
ACC Benalla principal Sam Woods said the baby chicks had become a key part of the already thriving ecosystem at the school.
“Our vision with the chickens was to form part of the ecosystem in our food production area,” he said.
“So, they would consume garden waste, turn it into manure, which will enhance the compost and create fertiliser, and then also lay eggs.
“We wanted to create a hands-on program that kids can learn what sustainability in food production really is and what it can be, and help them understand where their food comes from and how to make better choices in the food that they consume.”
Over a three-week period, students went through the process of incubating the eggs, providing a brilliant hands-on experience for those who weren’t necessarily naturally inclined to academic learning.
“The chickens have provided a really great hands-on experience for the students,” Mr Woods said.
“They incubated the eggs as part of the class project. They went through the process of incubating the eggs and checking the humidity and the temperature, and turning the eggs at regular intervals and all of those things.
“Once the little fellas hatched, they’ve spent the last few weeks of school on a roster looking after them, making sure the temperature and the humidity (are right), they’ve got food and water and all of those sorts of things, cleaning out their brooder and checking the heater.
“It’s been really wonderful to see, because kids that aren’t naturally inclined to the normal academic classroom, it’s given them a real ability take initiative and ownership over something.”
Putting sustainable farming into practice also helps give students some meaning when they hear the word ‘sustainable’.
“I find that in culture, when we have like a particular buzzword that gets used a lot it can lose a bit of meaning,” Mr Woods said.
“I mean, we see the word sustainable everywhere. You see it on your toilet paper, you see it on a drink bottle. You see this sustainably sourced this, sustainable that, and it’s kind of lost a bit of meaning.
“I think particularly for teenagers, it’s just a word and it doesn’t really have meaning, but when we can show them sustainable farming practices in practice, it shows what possibilities there are to have better practices with things.”
