By Coledale Public School parent Amy Geddes

Connecting Threads update: Our upcycled bike wheel reading nook is complete!

If you are walking past Coledale Public School you can now view our amazingly colourful and creative bike wheel reading nook. It’s a great place to sit outside and read and it was made by us, all from reclaimed materials!

Students in years 3-6 have worked collaboratively on weaving the bike wheels using torn-up old sheets and there have been some very imaginative weaving techniques used. We have also made rag rugs to sit on, inspired by a technique from Reclaim the Void, a project in WA that is aiming to make a large-scale dot artwork, where each rug is a single dot, to cover holes in the land made by mining pits.

You may have seen us demonstrating our skills at the Coledale Markets the last couple of months. Our students have been involved every step of the way, from sorting and tearing the material to measuring the diameter of the finished bike wheels and drawing up designs for the structure of the reading nook. A big thank you to local artists Imogen Ross and Samantha Arnull, who have helped us along our Connecting Threads journey and also to Orlando Norrish, for helping us put our reading nook together!

Student’s perspective: Ada Golsby-Walsh, 5/6 Purple

Our class has been involved in a sustainability program that’s purpose is to recycle and upcycle. Every second Wednesday, sustainability experts guide us through techniques to upcycle and also make effective crafts. Firstly, we have been working on our hula hoops. They are weaved crafts made from torn bed sheets, woven into amazingly effective woven webs. We’ve made a few but there’s more to come. Similar woven creations made from bicycle wheels are being put together soon to build a splendiferous igloo which may be called ‘The reading nook’. Students may go to the nook to read peacefully while marvelling the wheels.