‘Maggie’ is a male magpie with a damaged wing and the students are absolutely besotted by him.  

They have written about him, researched interesting facts about him, such as, how to tell the difference between a male and female, what Magpies eat and where they live.

When he arrives, they whisper excitedly “Maggies here, Maggies here!” then suddenly little faces are pressed against the window. They especially love watching him splash around in the bath.

Students were concerned for Maggie when they noticed he was always on his own.

They put their heads together and decided to create a garden for Maggie to encourage new bird and insect friends.

We have had a Science Incursion from Bellarine Secondary School about food webs, and we liaised with Bellarine Landcare for planting advice and to source our plants.

We decided to incorporate this day with National Tree Day and pre-NAIDOC week.

The day consisted of

• Welcome by our Principal
• Acknowledgment of country by all our students in the Junior
• A Dreaming Story sourced by our Koorie Engagement Support Officer – Nicholas Boseley
• Rotations
• Students planting a tree with their family
• Students and family creating a collaborative fingerprint tree
• Leaf Art

Student work was displayed including habitats made by the preps and a book written and illustrated by year 1/2 students titled Maggie.