On 9 April, our students had the chance to see Ascham sustainability in action when they toured our new raingarden installation.
The Year 12 Sustainability Committee joined the Junior School Environment Prefects and STEAM Prefects for a tour of the construction zone in the Fiona playground, which is being re-developed as part of Ascham’s Blueprint (Masterplan). Reps from our builders, architecture firm and landscape architects explained to students and staff how raingardens are self-watering, low-maintenance gardens, offering an innovative solution for managing stormwater, reducing pollution and enhancing urban ecosystems.
A raingarden (also known as a biofilter or bioretention basin) is a vegetated sandfilter designed to stop excess stormwater, nutrients, rubbish and sediment from polluting local waterways. In this case, water will be collected from pipes on the Fiona buildings and filtered through the raingarden before filling an underground tank, which will then send this filtered water into the stormwater drain. Raingardens use native vegetation to manage and treat stormwater, providing numerous environmental benefits including water quality improvement, flood mitigation and habitat creation.
Our students asked insightful questions and were enthusiastic about our commitment to the sustainable features of our new buildings and landscaping, as part of ‘Blueprint. For Our Future.’.
The re-develoment of our Fiona (Years 3-6) campus is well underway and we can’t wait to open the incredible new playground to our students very soon.
