13 Nov 08 - Monster Mystery Revealed at Coramba School
Students at Coramba Public School have created their own mini Jurassic Park - thanks to funding from Council's Environmental Levy (EL).
Right in the heart of the school grounds, the pupils have built an eight-foot T-Rex skeleton as the centrepiece of a major revegetation landscaping project, which they achieved through the EL Green Schools funding initiative.
A competition has been running in the school to name the T-Rex and on Thursday, November 13 the dinosaur's name was revealed by Deputy Mayor, Councillor Bill Palmer: "Ab-Ma-Roc" (Coramba in reverse).
"The imaginations of the children at Coramba have clearly been fired up with the projects they've been doing to improve the school grounds and learn about the natural environment around them," said Cr Palmer.
"Helping create a dinosaur is definitely the most unusual Environmental Levy funding project we've been involved with to date," he said.
As well as the T-Rex, the students have created a series of frog ponds in an area that had previously suffered from erosion during heavy rain. It includes bridges and a rock habitat area the children called the 'Lizard Hotel'.
In addition, the school has been taking part in a 'Bringing Back the Habitat' project with the help of Council staff which has involved planting native trees for shade and bird-attracting shrubs. The school also installed habitat boxes to attract native wildlife. The dinosaur is the centrepiece of this area of the school grounds.
The projects have all been undertaken with funding from Council's EL Green Schools initiative and with the support of Council staff.
In the ten years that the EL funding programme has been running, nearly $10.5m has been put into activities that have helped protect and enhance our local environment. More than $7.5m of that money has been directly raised through the Levy alone, while around $3m has come from grants and other sources.
Council is currently seeking community submissions for projects to be considered for funding under the 2009/10 Environmental Levy Programme - including Green Schools funding.
Application Forms are also available from the customer service counter at Council's Administrative Centre and the libraries at Coffs Harbour, Toormina and Woolgoolga. Submissions will be accepted up until 5:00pm Friday, 12 December 2008.
Council and the Department of the Environment and Climate Change (DECC) also offer educational programmes to schools.
Two new programmes - 'Forests Need Flying Foxes' and 'Koalas In Our Backyards' - are currently on offer. For more information, call Council on 6648 4662.
