It's been a big year for Kangaloon Public School.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Following its 150th birthday celebrations in April, Kangaloon Public School has been announced as the overall national winner of Picasso Cows with their cow Daisy.
Picasso Cows is a curriculum based learning program designed by Dairy Australia.
Established in 2009 and developed in consultation with teachers and education consultants, the program aims to inspire learning through student creativity.
The highly successful program has been challenging primary school students to find their inner Picasso and decorate their cow, limited only by their imagination.
Kangaloon Public School teacher Alissa Whatman said that the kids were thrilled to have won.
"It's a fantastic [program]," she said
"It gives the kids a level of learning about the things we need in life and where they come from.
"The kids chose the Farm to Plate program and we used the resources provided by Dairy Australia.
"They learnt about the dairy industry, the different cows, what farmers need to do and some of the struggles they go through. We also had dairy farmers John and Bradley Whatman come in and talk them and show them some equipment.
"Each student from year 3 -6 chose an area to research, which became the designs for the cow. It was a whole collaborative project, everyone had their say.
"It's a nice team work project."
The school also received a prize for coming first.
The $2500 will go to good use in the school, with sporting equipment on top of the list.
"We plan on getting some portable basketball hoops, new equipment and new soccer balls so that the leaving year 6 students can also enjoy them," said Ms Whatman
Students Felicity, Eliza and Lochy all enjoyed their time working on the project.
"It's a fun thing to do before we leave [for highschool]", said year 6 student Felicity
"We went on a few excursions to farms and we saw a robot milking the cows."
Eliza was also interested in the robot and enjoyed painting Daisy the cow.
"We learnt that farmers get milk to the shelves in seven hours," she said.
Lochy also enjoyed learning about cows and was the one who suggested the cow should be called Daisy.
"It seemed like a good name for a cow," he said.
"I liked learning about facts such as cows are colour blind and have four stomachs."
Read Also: Take flight for the cancer fight
Dairy Australia's school communications manager Vanessa Forrest said teachers can easily find materials that best fit within the lessons they are planning on the Discover Dairy online resources.
"Every school receives their very own life-like cow to paint and decorate, which supports student - centred, interactive learning in addition to an exciting digital educational resources," she said.
The Farm to Plate curriculum teaches students about that $13 billion Australian diary industry and the story of how milk goes from farm to our fridge.
"With many children increasingly growing up in urban areas, they often don't know where their food comes from and Picasso Cows is a great opportunity to educate the next generation," said Ms Forrest.
Southern Highlands dairy farmer John Whatman said he hoped that the program would spark some interest in the dairy industry.
The students at Kangaloon Public School are no strangers when it comes to cows as the school shares a boundary with a herd of Holstein cows. The students enjoy feeding the curious cows some grass and enjoy patting them.