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November

Garden helps attendance grow A seed sown early last year – to plant a garden at Alexandria Park Community School – has grown beyond everyone’s wildest dreams. Read more here.
The amazing race For the past 16 years elite sportspeople including Australian cricketers Ian Chappell and Doug Walters, netballer Liz Ellis and Paralympian Louise Sauvage have attended the annual sports day to support, cheer and in some cases push the wheelchair-bound students in races held inside Truscott Street Public’s hall. Find out more.
Hands-on learning for the young and old If the boys from Orange’s Bowen Public School had their way Dianne Pelley is sure they would spend all their time in a former storage area now known as “the men’s shed”. It is there they undertake activities such as woodwork and painting with volunteer mentors. Learn more here.
Road safety gets a push More than 2,200 NSW primary and secondary students competed in the third NRMA Kids’ Design Challenge TechnoPush at Eastern Creek Raceway last term. Read more here.
Zoo program gives food for thought Public schools in Dubbo will work with Taronga Western Plains Zoo on a long-term tree-planting project aimed at establishing outdoor learning areas that can be harvested for animal fodder. Find out more.
Olympic award for Westfields Westfields Sports High School has received a rare honour by winning the International Olympic Committee’s Sport and Youth trophy. Learn more here.
Fun, flames and games at Parramatta At Parramatta Public School’s Olympiad games, held last term, there were equal measures of athleticism and creativity on show. Read more here.
Parents learning through the children Last term, Wingarra Preschool (located at Doonside Public School) celebrated National Aboriginal and Islander Children’s Day with the local community. Find out more.
Science stars Two NSW public schools have turned complex scientific concepts into award-winning short videos for the University of Sydney’s Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Schools Prize. Learn more here.
Unearthing eco-crime With a margin of just two seconds, James Fallon High School students posted their results and beat 999 other school teams to win this year’s Murder under the Microscope challenge. Learn more here.
Yuk! Shakespeare Students from 12 primary schools received a tragically memorable experience of Shakespeare last term when children’s author Andy Griffiths gave a live and virtual preview of his latest exploit, Just Macbeth! Read more here.