Loreto Kirribilli and Taronga partnership to see students immersed in Zoo life
Loreto Kirribilli is taking the classroom into the real world in a new educational partnership with Taronga Zoo.
Years in the making, the first of its kind with an independent school, it aims to inspire the students to become conservationists of the future, says Zoo director of education Paul Maguire. “We aim to connect students more directly with real-world conservation challenges and empower them to see the role they can play in protecting wildlife and the natural environment,” he said.
Under the partnership, students from Kindergarten to Year 12 will spend time at the Zoo and Taronga staff will also attend Loreto for instruction. “There’ll be a range of different activities from curriculum that we’ll be designing that the girls will then engage in through the classroom,” explains Loreto principal Nicole Archard. “(There will also be) hands-on experiences outside of the classroom, or girls will work directly with scientists analysing data and then coming up with initiatives that they can also lead at school.”
At the highest level, Year 11 and 12 students who study Science Extension may do research with Taronga scientists looking at growing food for animals at Taronga, or on animal behaviour and ethical responsibilities of zoos. “It’s not all just around understanding the animals at Taronga,” Dr Archard explained. “But if we’re looking at the impact of plastics and how do we care for our oceans (we can look at how) we’re a school on Sydney Harbour. We have an ethical and moral responsibility regarding the land in which we occupy and how that then impacts on waste or animals on site – so it’s an endless array of possibilities.”
Taronga and Loreto plan to design a new curriculum which could eventually be used in other NSW schools. The Zoo already has a strong education focus and has delivered smaller scale school programs for more than 50 years, Mr Maguire said. The new partnership would extend the Zoo’s impact into the independent school sector and allow it to ‘enhance our education offerings, particularly in areas such as STEM, environmental science and conservation leadership.’
“Ultimately, our ambition is to inspire students who have the skills, knowledge and values needed to tackle some of the most significant environmental challenges of our time. We hope that through experiences like this, students will develop the confidence and curiosity to pursue careers and leadership roles in science, conservation and sustainability. We want to help nurture the next generation of global citizens who are equipped to create a future where wildlife and people can thrive together.”
Dr Archard said the girls were ‘thrilled’ to be able to get ‘real’ experience and be mentored by some of the world’s leading scientists at Taronga. “Our young people are amazing and they are absolutely creative,” Dr Archard enthused. “They care about their world and (we’ll) have this hands-on learning experience that is cross-curricular can teach young people to have environmental responsibility. And it’s developing those core skills of ethical decision making which applies not just to the environment, but lots of other areas of their lives.”
The school had a history of ‘pushing boundaries’ when it came to education to develop ‘students for the future’ who were ‘caring, ethical, responsible citizens.’
“We want to create young people with an ethical understanding of a social responsibility they have to care for their world. It’s really important to create those ideas of environmental stewardship, which does not just benefit themselves, but everyone in society.”
