All of the recounts below were written by students of the Year 3/4 class after a recent visit from Friends of the Koala.

On the second of June 2008 Barbara Dobner came to Barkers Vale Public School year 3/4 and talked about koalas. She came from Friends of the Koala.

First we went into the computer room and Barbara showed us a slide show on koalas. We learnt the difference between a male and a female koalas and weather a koala is sick or healthy. Also we learnt about all the threats and predators koalas have which includes dogs, cars, diseases and old age. There were plenty of cute pictures of koalas that Barbara has kept in care!!

Next we left the computer room and went back into the classroom. We all got to ask some questions that we had written earlier. After we asked a question she exchanged either a postcard or a magazine on koalas. She was extremely pleased with the questions that we asked. At the end of the day Mrs Mac handed out pamphlets and cards from the Friends of the Koala. On the pamphlets it included a map to the Friends of the Koala Care Centre and information about koalas and what you can do for them to help. On the card it included a website address of the Friends of the Koala and the rescue phone number.

I enjoyed learning about koalas and I enjoyed watching the slide show that Barbara had put together for us to watch. Thank you Barbara for coming to our school and teaching us about koalas.

Yesterday a lady from Friends of the Koala came and her name was Barbara. First we went to the computer room and she showed us a slide show and a stuffed koala called Stuffy. All the koalas were cute. Next we asked her questions that we wrote that morning. If our questions were good she gave us a postcard or a pamphlet. I got a postcard and a pamphlet. After that we got to pat Stuffy the stuffed koala. Elanora wasn't too keen on him but I liked him.

I learned that boys have scent glands that look like a bit of dirty fur and you can see the skin a little bit. I also learnt that girls have cuter, smaller faces. I thought it was good.

On Monday 2.6.08 a lovely, lady called Barbara Dobner came to help us understand about koalas. First we went to the computer room and she put a computer memory stick into the projector and showed us a slide show that she had made. I think everyone loved it!!

It had lots of information and many quite realistic pictures of koalas in trees and blankets. We saw babies and full grown koalas and injured koalas and I thought they were all absolutely georgous! Then when it was all over we all came into the classroom and she introduced us to Stuffy. He was a realistic koalas but had got all of his insides out and instead was stuffed.

We began to ask questions such as 'Where did you get the inspiration?' and 'How do koalas mate?' and 'How do koalas communicate?' and there were lots more.

On Monday a visitor came called Barbara from Friends of the Koala. She brought a stuffed koala. She called it Stuffy because it was stuffed.

Before she came we wrote some questions. We went into the computer room and she showed us a slide show about koalas. There were some really cute koalas and one with blood on it. There were some with no fur. I learnt that baby koalas eat their mum's poo. It is very sloppy. Then we went into the classroom and asked her questions. If we asked her good questions she gave us a book about koalas or a card with a really cute baby koala on it. The reason koalas sleep lots is because their food is low in nutrition. The reason koalas eat gum leaves is because there are not many other animals to eat the Eucalyptus leaves. The way koalas communicate is by calling to each other. The boys grunt and the girls can scream.

On Monday 2nd June a lady came in and her name was Barbara. She is from the Friends of the Koala. First she asked us if we would like to watch a slide show about koalas. We all said yes we would love to. So we all went into the computer room and we saw many different koalas.

Next we all came back into the classroom. We all asked lots of different questions about koalas. She showed us a stuffed koala called Stuffy.

These are some of the things that we got told. The koalas habitat is slowly disappearing. Koalas can sleep for 20 hours a day and are only active for around 4 hours a day. Koalas are hard to spot because they can curl up and adults end up about the size of a basketball. If you ever see a koala in the wild please ring 6622 1233.