2012 Annual Report - Hunter Wetlands Centre Australia

Education Report - Peter JonesThis was an exciting year as theWetlands EEC staff welcomed a newPrincipal to replace Christine Priettoafter many years tenure. Peter Joneswas previously Literacy consultant atthe NSW DEC Hunter Central CoastMaitland Office and before that HeadTeacher of HSIE at Callaghan College,Waratah Campus. Peter thoroughlyenjoyed his first year settling intothe position, becoming familiar withprograms and enjoying the wide rangeof teaching opportunities this positionoffers.Carolyn Gillard, Teacher; andRhonda Atkins, School AdministrationManager remained on the staffand enjoyed working with Peterand ‘breaking him in’ to this uniquesetting. The education program wasalso supported by a small team ofcasual teachers with a wide range ofskills enabling them to teach acrossvarious curriculum areas and ages.This support is particularly necessarywith large groups of students in orderto comply with DEC requirements forstaff / student ratios on excursions,particularly in proximity to water.WEEC staff continued tomanage the design and delivery of ourcore excursion programs for visitingstudents from Kindergarten to Year 12.Students participated in a wide rangeof investigations with the integration oftechnology a great drawcard.All programs support NSW DEC syllabusrequirements and enhance learning.Visiting schools predominantly comefrom the Hunter region, but also fromSydney and other areas of the state.6928 students visited WEEC in 2012.This included 63% primary students, 37%high school students. 95% of schoolswere from the Hunter Region. Staff alsopresented environmental programs viaVideo Conference to over 370 students.Of the 23 Environmental EducationCentres in the state, WEEC has one of thehighest visitation rates.WEEC staff also coordinated:Environmental Sustainability Forum,which is a one day networking forumfor teachers to keep up to date withenvironmental initiatives across the stateand programs offered across the region.Over 60 teachers participated in 2012.18