In 2016 we welcomed Vivienne, Lolly Legs, Princess Layer, Dotti and Maple to our school family. While these lovely ladies may look like ordinary chickens, they are indeed teachers in a feathery disguise.
As the years have passed we have also had to farewell our ladies. This has taught us many things about life and we have learnt together how to deal with these losses and to celebrate their importance to us.
In 2020 we were gifted two grown chickens from our school community; Millie (big grey girl) and Syrup (fondly known as Mrs Fricker). We learnt about pecking order and how best to integrate these chickens into our flock. In 2022 we purchased two young chickens (Hey Hey and Honey) and have enjoyed watching them grow and develop their unique personalities.
Our Ferny Grove chickens teach our children and staff so many things, and everyone of our school values can be seen in action each day. Students display respect by learning to handle the chickens gently and watching for their bodily cues to know if the chickens need some space or are ready for some cuddles. Students display responsibility by ensuring that their needs are being met. Our chickens are lucky to receive scraps from our tuckshop as well as grains and worms and grasshoppers from our garden. Attitudes of compassion and empathy are evident each day in our chicken coop as students interact with the chickens and other students. Importantly they teach the students about the connectedness between plants, people, animals and the land as well as the cyclic nature of our world.
Our chickens also help children overcome a fear or anxiety induced by animals. Students learn about hygiene practices for both the animals and themselves, such as hand washing and keeping the coop free of rubbish.
Providing students with meaningful ways to interact with, and form relationships with animals in a school setting and can be a powerful experience for all involved, and we are fortunate to be able to offer this.
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