Sustainable Living

Sustainability

PERMACULTURE ETHICS, PRINCIPLES AND PATTERNS - PDC with Bunya Halasz What is permaculture and why is it relevant to our world today? How can we integrate the ethics and principles of Permaculture in our daily life? We will explore the foundations of Permaculture, where ecological understanding meets modern design and where science meets the arts and traditional knowledge systems. Learn about the underlying patterns in nature and how comprehending and working with them can support you to live a richer, more easeful life. Fri, 26 Feb | 9am - 5pm Mullum Concession: $89 Full Fee: $99

PLANT PROPAGATION AND SEED SAVING - PDC with Bunya Halasz Explore a range of simple plant propagation techniques including cuttings, root division and seed raising to allow you to grow a range of plants for your garden in a simple and cost effective manner. Learn a range of seed saving and storage techniques that empower you to secure the great diversity of food varieties on our planet. Discover how you can develop and evolve varieties of food plants that will have optimum productivity in the unique conditions of your own home garden. Sat, 27 Feb | 9am - 5pm Mullum Concession: $89 Full Fee: $99 SOILS - ORGANIC MANAGEMENT - PDC with Joey Venables Get to know your own soil - what is it made of, what will grow well in it and how you can improve your soil to make the most of what it has to offer. Delve into the world of compost, soil nutrition and microbiology as we explore some of the myriad of ways you can build a healthy, fertile, robust soil through organic practices that will help you to grow food packed full of life force. Fri, 26 Mar | 9am - 5pm Mullum Concession: $89 Full Fee: $99

TREES AND PERENNIAL CROPS - CREATING FOOD FORESTS - PDC with Bunya Halasz Learn how to design, establish and care for your own diverse, tree based food production system in a low maintenance fashion that works with natures fundamental processes of land and soil repair. Discover a huge array of fruit and nut trees from around the world that thrive in our warm, subtropical climate including indigenous bush foods. Sat, 27 Mar | 9am - 5pm Mullum Concession: $89 Full Fee: $99

VEGETABLES - INTEGRATED ORGANIC PRODUCTION - PDC with Bunya Halasz Explore a comprehensive range of Organic Gardening techniques including composting, crop rotation, companion planting and natural pest and disease management. Create a ‘no-dig garden’ from local, low cost materials and learn about seasonal planting in the humid Subtropics. Sun, 28 Mar | 9am - 5pm Mullum Concession: $89 Full Fee: $99

INTRODUCTION TO NATURAL BUILDING with Dani Wolff

NEW Come along to learn about various earthen building materials such as Strawbales, Cob, Mudbricks & Lightearth, and learn how to use them in your project. Sat, 27 Feb | 9am - 1pm Mullum Concession: $153 Full Fee: $170

INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE DESIGN - PDC with James Nash The fundamentals of Permaculture design theory and practice. Explore how the elements of nature - earth, water, air and fire - define the unique conditions and opportunities of any site. Learn how to analyse and map these powerful forces to support you to work with, rather than against them to achieve your lifestyle and production goals. Sun, 28 Feb | 9am - 5pm Mullum Concession: $89 Full Fee: $99 NATIVE BEES INTRODUCTION with Richard Ray

NEW Keeping native bees is easy! They are harmless, effective pollinators, which is what makes them a popular addition to many Australian gardens. During this workshop you will learn about native bee biology, husbandry, lifecycle and habits. So whether you are interested in keeping them for honey or conservation these little bees make a great addition to any backyard. Sat, 6 Mar | 9am - 1pm Mullum Concession: $76 Full Fee: $84

BUILD YOUR OWN ‘EARTH OVEN’ with Dani Wolff

NEW This hands on course will take you through the process of building a back yard oven made from clay & other earthen materials. These ovens can be scaled in size and used to cook wood fired pizzas, breads, crock pots and so much more! Sat & Sun, 13 - 14 Mar | 9am - 1pm Mullum Concession: $179 Full Fee: $199

OPEN GARDEN with Heather Stevenson NEW Visit a thriving urban food garden. So, you are interested in growing your own backyard fruit and veggies, maybe incorporating a couple of chooks. You know a bit about it, but would love to see how someone else is actually managing it, warts and all. Spend a morning having a good old sticky-beak at Heather’s small kitchen garden. Wander around, ask questions, and get some great advice and ideas for your own food-based garden. Sat, 20 Mar | 9 - 11am Mullum Concession: $44 Full Fee: $49

BUILDING A TINY HOUSE with Angel Grimaldi

NEW Learn all the skills and steps to build your own off-grid tiny house. Based on practical experience by the tutor - who built and lives in his own tiny house, this course will give the necessary guidance to plan your design and build your own tiny house. You will develop an understanding of the whole project, from sourcing the materials, to design and implementation, to the different sources of renewable energy. This course will save you money and months of research. Sat, 20 Mar | 9am - 5pm Mullum Concession: $107 Full Fee: $119

BICYCLE REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE with Angel Grimaldi

NEW Learn how to perform regular maintenance to get the maximum out of your bicycle, become comfortable fixing a puncture and adjusting brakes and gears. It is really worthwhile to do a maintenance course even if you usually have your bike serviced by a shop. Knowing how to adjust brakes and gears “on the run”, etc will give you the confidence to fix it yourself to keep yourself going if something goes wrong on the ride. Fri, 26 Mar | 9am - 4pm Mullum Concession: $89 Full Fee: $99 NATIVE PLANT IDENTIFICATION AND BUSH TUCKER with Joey Venables Join us for an introduction into the wonderful world of plant identification and become familiar with some of our local rainforest species and unique bush tucker. In the spirit of fun and inquiry, we will cover some basic and intermediate level botanic terminology, identify rainforest species, plant families, and discover what edible fruits, shoots and roots that are available in this area. Sat, 27 Feb | 10am - 4pm Mullum Concession: $88 Full fee: $98

BEEKEEPING - AN INTRODUCTION with Steve Fowler

NEW This workshop introduces potential bee keepers to the delight and fascination of this rewarding hobby. The session covers safety, myth busting, hands-on bee keeping (Steve will bring along a beehive), legal requirements and the most important thing - how to get started! Sun, 7 Feb | 11 am - 7 pm Mullum Concession: $122 Full Fee: $136

Student Support

Making the decision to learn and enrol in a course can be incredibly exciting. The prospect of learning new skills, changing or starting a new career comes with hope and expectation as well as some fear and uncertainty. Embracing the communities diverseness, our students are a mix of those wanting to change their lives and those of others. Some are fresh out of school, some have not studied for more than twenty years , some have learning barriers from traditional schooling systems that didn’t work for them, some never completed high school, some have language, literacy or numeracy issues and some are university educated looking to further their career.

Every year the Byron Community College embraces this diverse mix of students with their hopes, dreams and challenges and supports them to achieve the very best outcome for them in the pursuit of their vocational learning journey.

With a dedicated team in Student Support and Foundation Skills, Byron Community College works closely with all students – guiding you through the enrolment process, funding available, wellbeing and general student support in terms of completing assessments, tasks, answering questions or simply someone to reach out to when things may get overwhelming.

This term we farewell Lance Hopson who is retiring after 10 years at Byron Community College. For many Lance may have been one of the first team members you met when you walked in through the front door. He has touched the lives of so many, as many will attest in our community, and been a profound influence on helping students complete studies, overcome challenges and achieve their dreams.

We are though incredibly excited to welcome Katherina Kiss who has joined the team in the role of Student Support. Katherina comes with years of experience and community care in her various professional and volunteer roles within Byron Shire. Katherina is supported by Dianne Meehan our Foundation Skills Co-ordinator who’s care and support has seen many students improve their literacy, numeracy and digital skills.

So as you embark on your learning journey for 2021, know that you are not alone and support is available should you need it.