making tiles for the border

Students at St Vincent de Paul Primary School in Strathmore are making a ceramic mural about Moonee Ponds Creek. Their art teacher Ms Williams and artist Debbie Qadri will be working with them to make the parts of the mural out of clay. We are learning about the history of Moonee Ponds Creek as we make the mural. A lot of the indigenous animals and plants have gone from the creek because of the development of the City of Melbourne. What animals and plants were there when the Wurundjeri People lived here, and why are they not there now? When you go down to the creek, have you noticed how the friends of Moonee Ponds Creek and the local councils are beginning to replant the native plants and grasses that used to be there? We are hoping that in the future some of the animals and creatures will also return. We hope that when we finish the mural at the school, it will serve as a permanent reminder that we need to care for the creek and take care of the animals and plants that are there. The Grade 2 students have begun to make the special tiles for the border around the mural. First they rolled out some clay, then they cut it to the width of the border with a ruler. The students then placed native grasses and plants form the moonee ponds creek over their clay and then rolled over them with a rolling pin. This makes a print of the grasses and plants. The students then added colours to the tiles that they had made. At the end of the day, Ms Williams and Debbie, and Rosie (mystery helper) added a thin wash of colour to the tiles that sat into the impressions made by the plants, to highlight them. Here are some photos of the children making the tiles for the mural.