Quinns Rocks PS gets clucky as chooks settle into new nest

QUINNS Rocks Primary School students have welcomed a brood of chickens to their living laboratory.

Ten fowl arrived at the school on May 15 to take up residence in a chicken shed built by North Metropolitan Tafe Clarkson students.

Living laboratory co-ordinator Sarah Williams said the project was started last year, establishing a garden to teach students about growing and producing food.

Students will feed the chickens, which were sponsored by Clarkson Toyota, and the school hopes they will produce eggs that could be sold or used in the school canteen.

“They are 10 weeks old; they should be laying eggs in 16 weeks,” Mrs Williams said.

“Lots of students come around before school, at recess and lunch to have a look.

“They need to get used to their surroundings first, then kids will be able to start feeding them by hand.”

Mrs Williams said the project gave children an opportunity they might not get at home to interact with chickens in a natural environment.

She said all classes used the living laboratory in different ways, with one currently learning about challenges the first European settlers faced in Australia through planting vegetables.

“It helps them understand that if plants didn’t grow, they were going to starve,” she said.

Mrs Williams said students did a variety of jobs in the garden and got to taste what they grew, including things like rocket or radish, which they might not have eaten before.

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