Eco Schools 2013 grants awarded and project summaries

Organisation	Project title
Dorchester Education and Training Unit	Lyrebird learning centre
Dorroughby Environmental Education Centre	Widjabul bush tucker garden
Dubbo College Delroy Campus	Delroy meeting place
Dunoon Public School	Butterfly outdoor learning scape
East Hills Girls Technology High School	Biodiversity native garden walk
Elderslie Public School	Waste not want not
Elizabeth Macarthur High School	The salt bush solution
Evans River K-12 Community School	Keeping your fishing spot clean
Forbes North Public School	Propagating environmentally sustainable students
Francis Greenway High School	The return of the endemic flora biodiversity to school grounds
Glendale Technology High School	Glendale's floating salad bar
Glenroy Public School	Bush camp classroom
Great Lakes College - Tuncurry Senior Campus	Diversity garden and outdoor learning facility
Hawkesbury Independent School	Bushland regeneration
Humula Public School	Humula Public School environmental education outdoor learning area
Killarney Heights High School	Bushland regeneration - a community endeavour
Kororo Public School	Bush tucker and sensory garden
Ladysmith Public School	Do not fear the animal savers are here
Lomandra School	Visit earth project
Londonderry Public School	Londonderry public frog habitat and possum nesting boxes
Lurnea High School	Support environmental learning area

Dorchester Education and Training Unit

Lyrebird Learning Centre

This project is designed to bring the local Aboriginal community and whole school community together to form a traditional garden incorporating Indigenous plants native to the Tharawal nation and surrounding areas being Campbelltown, Sydney and Wollongong. The garden will be used for multiple purposes including Aboriginal education, environmental studies, school sustainability, ceremonial occasions, Hospitality classes and cross-curriculum learning. Due to the students being in a maximum-security facility where outdoor activities are limited, a purpose-built cultural area will enhance the school’s ability to provide outdoor learning experiences. Completion of the project will benefit the students through fostering a sense of student achievement and take ownership of their learning.

Dorroughby Environmental Education Centre

Widjabul bush tucker garden

Dorroughby EEC would like to improve the school’s local environment and understanding of Aboriginal Cultural knowledge through the establishment of a new native gardens and outdoor signage for endemic bush tucker plants. The centre already has a regenerated rainforest area and other small gardens but would like to create a new garden specifically for bush tucker. Signs will be developed with assistance from the Aboriginal community and placed in the new garden and the already established gardens to create a new bush tucker trail. Plants displayed in the garden will later be propagated and grown in the Dorroughby EEC nursery so that schools visiting and learning about bush tucker can grow plants in their own schools. The plants chosen will also be in line with a new North Coast Aboriginal education resource due to be released by GNIBI at Southern Cross University by the end of 2013. Over 5,000 students from the Northern Rivers visit the centre each year could choose to be involved in an education program related to the new garden.

Dubbo College Delroy Campus

Delroy meeting place

The Delroy Meeting Place comprises an outdoor learning space with ironbark log seating and a traditional fire pit. Improvements will include a surrounding garden of plants traditionally used by the Wiradjuri people for food and craft. Consultation with the local Aboriginal Community and Dubbo City Council has made this project possible. It will be used by students for cultural activities as part of the school’s Aboriginal Language and Culture curriculum, as an outdoor learning space, and by our community for celebrations and cultural events. This project will improve student understanding of their environment and Aboriginal culture.

Dunoon Public School

Butterfly outdoor learning scape

The project is aimed at creating an outdoor learning space which also improves the viability of the native butterfly population, including the species the Richmond birdwing butterfly which is specific to this area and has been identified by the Department of Environment and Heritage protection as ‘critical priority conservation status’ due to habitat loss. A wooden outdoor learning platform surrounded by native butterfly plants will be created. The Student Representative Council has decided to be proactive in the saving of native butterflies through the incorporation of a ‘Butterfly Learn scape’ into the proposed outdoor learning space.

East Hills Girls Technology High School

Biodiversity native garden walk

Indigenous native gardens are being established at the front of the school, incorporating the plant types of Telopea, Melaleuca, Eucalyptus and Banksia – the four sport houses of the school. A walk through these gardens along a planned path will demonstrate to students the plants used by Australian Aboriginals for food and resources. East Hills Girls Technology High School is situated on the Cumberland Plains Woodlands, which is listed as an endangered ecological community under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 and the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. One of the main aims of this project is to protect the very mature eucalyptus trees of the site, contributing to woodland protection. By increasing the biodiversity of the gardens, students and the wider community will be shown the beauty and intrinsic value of our local natural resources. The planting of specific species will also increase the habitat of native animal species, such as birds and native bees. Cross-curricula activities will use the resource planned.

Elderslie Public School

Waste not want not

A vital aspect of school culture is how we relate to and manage our local environment. The students participate in ‘Crunch and Sip’ and a lot of food and vegetable scraps are sent to the local tip. We would like a worm farm for every two classrooms to recycle the fruit and vegetable waste. Functioning worm farms will reduce waste sent to landfill and provide castings and tea for the school gardens. Students, under the supervision of teachers, will manage and maintain the worm farms. The importance of waste management in the environment will be an ongoing focus.

Elizabeth Macarthur High School

The saltbush solution

Our purpose is to promote more efficient resource use and improve the quality of our school farm environment. This will be carried out using suitable plants, trees and bushes, to fix the salinity and water problems in our school’s agriculture paddocks. This helps in draining the water from the ground and absorbing salts. We also want to minimise the water logging in the neighbouring houses by the school’s farm.

Evans River K-12 Community School

Keeping your fishing spot clean

To install four Tangler Bins at Evans Head a renowned fishing spot. The Evans River is home to many turtles, dolphins, fish and marine birds; the Tangler Bins purpose is to reduce the inappropriate disposal of waste, such as, lines, bait bags, hooks and sinkers by up to 70 percent immediately and long-term; thereby reducing the number of birds and marine wildlife that are injured and killed from fishing waste. In addition, Evans River K-12 School’s Student Representative Council and Richmond Valley Council will develop and deliver an information campaign for the whole school, community and visitors aimed at promoting sustainable behaviour and the prevention of fishing litter.

Forbes North Public School

Propagating environmentally sustainable students

Create, with the students, a weather station and propagation house that would become a permanent part of the school kitchen garden. Students will be a part of the project from the beginning and will assist with design and construction. Students will be responsible for daily weather monitoring and recording, and will learn about making decisions about what seeds and seedlings are to be planted. The propagation house will protect seedlings from frost, summer heat and wind, and will extend the growing season for seasonal crops. Native plants can be propagated and grown all year round for use on the school grounds.

Francis Greenway High School

The return of the endemic flora biodiversity to the school grounds

The aim of the project is to increase the biodiversity of endemic plants and animals within the school, improve the aesthetic appeal of the school grounds, and continue to build stronger links with the community. The establishment of the school’s grounds environmental team will provide the needed planning and management necessary to remove introduced plants within the school grounds and coordinate the contribution that each faculty will play in the re-establishment of endemic plants. Students will become more aware of sustainable initiatives that can be used to re-establish native environments within the school grounds and develop a greater understanding of practices that can be adopted to ensure a successful coexistence of plants, fauna and humans.

Glendale Technology High School

Glendale’s floating salad bar

At present there is minimal to no recycling of food scraps from our canteen, staffrooms or playground. Our ‘floating salad bar’ will initiate and sustain the collection and use of food scraps and green waste within our School. This will greatly reduce our School’s landfill contribution whilst sustaining native crustacean and fish species with previously wasted food scraps. Furthermore, in conjunction with worm-farm use, the crustaceans and fish will recycle the scraps to provide nutrients for growing edible plants. This innovative solution to an environmental issue at our school will involve students across all years, staff members and the community.

Glenroy Public School

Bush camp classroom

Our Bush camp classroom will recreate a slice of local Crown Reserve Nail Can Hill within the school grounds. The space will become an area where nature and the classroom intersect. Imagine a bush camp with tables and chairs sculpted out of old stumps, native trees around you filled with wildlife. Our public school educates students from a range of backgrounds and this outdoor space will allow an alternative approach to engaging in learning. The space will become a corridor for native animals and allow the students to study and observe wildlife, becoming aware of the life and activity around them.

Great Lakes College Tuncurry Senior Campus

Diversity garden and outdoor learning facility

This facility is required to create significant and relevant kinaesthetic links to course content in a diverse range of Key Learning Areas. It is envisaged that this project will develop links with the greater school community and draw on the experiences and input of Aboriginal students, students with special needs and effect a smooth and comfortable transition of students in general to the Senior Campus. This will all be achieved through student participation in the design and construction of an outdoor learning space featuring an amphitheatre, vegetable garden, biology and earth sciences facility, Aboriginal bush foods plantation, raised walkways and sculpture garden.

Hawkesbury Independent School

Bushland regeneration

An outdoor learning trail will be created in a disused gully located within the school grounds. The majority of the existing ‘bush’ is heavily infested with noxious weeds and is in desperate need of attention. The bird diversity within the bushland is quite high and dependent on the density of the weed growth. The area would need to be regenerated carefully and slowly so as not to impact too much on the birds that already live there. The intention is to work on small areas at a time under the direction of HEN (Hawkesbury Education Network); to remove the weeds, replant natives that are Indigenous to the area, and to mulch the area. This will improve the appearance and natural environment, keep the bird life and provide an important outdoor learning area for our children.

Humula Public School

Humula Public School environmental education outdoor learning area

Our plan is to enhance an area of the school playground to entice the local fauna back to the area. Our vision is to rebuild a frog pond, circulating the water from a mini catchment area through the pond thus keeping the water fresh and provide a breeding ground for the frogs. This would be powered by a solar pump using the earth’s resources to assist this venture. We plan to plant native grasses and plants along the catchment area around the pond, providing a natural habitat to the fauna that we are encouraging to the area. This will hopefully encourage local bird life to breed in the area. We will also relocate a water tank to our storage shed, allowing for a water supply to be available if and when needed. The drought years have been hard on this area and this will help provide a ready source of water. This plan will foster the students’ sense of wonder and expand their natural curiosity about the world around them in order to develop their understanding of, interest in and enthusiasm for the natural sciences.

Killarney Heights High School

Bushland regeneration – a community endeavour

The Killarney Heights High School community has been involved in the management of its land assets for many years. Parents in the past have shown a high level of interest and dedication to this management. In 2009 a vegetation management plan was drawn up by professional consultants. This detailed the environment of the school and made a series of recommendations which included the increased involvement of the community in the maintenance of a sustainable environment for both animals and plants. A number of recommendations are still to be implemented. This project is designed to reignite interest by the school and local community in improving the biological health of the bushland areas of the school.

Kororo Public School

Bush tucker and sensory garden

The students and teachers involved in our School Environmental Committee would like to construct a bush tucker garden using local species of bush tucker plants. The purpose will be to create an outdoor learning space where teaching and learning programs can develop student’s ‘On Country’ knowledge of the Gumbaynggirr people. Teaching programs will be in line with new syllabus priorities including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and culture and Sustainability. Included in this garden will be some type of contemporary Aboriginal art/sculpture recognising this as a special place in the school environment.

Ladysmith Public School

Do not fear: the animal savers are here!

What lives in our local environment? How do we develop a healthy ecosystem in our back yard? Where can the local critters go when they need shelter, food and protection? By finding answers, students will have a better understanding of our local environment. By working as a community to improve the habitats of the native animals and birds, their populations will increase. By establishing a deeper understanding of how the endemic flora works hand in hand with the native fauna, students will develop an understanding of the interconnectedness. This project will provide an ongoing learning area for future students.

Lomandra School

Visit Earth project

The Visit Earth project is collaboration between Lomandra School and Beverley Park School. Both are Specific Purpose Schools, supporting students with high support needs, including intellectual, physical, behavioural and emotional needs. Through the construction, planting and ongoing care of a native garden with a quiet space, the project will establish shared educational and sensory learning experiences, with a focus on hands-on tasks, authentic learning of bush tucker and enrichment of the already active earth-to-table teaching in both schools. The garden will be located in a shared common access area – one which the community will pass through when visiting the schools.

Londonderry Public School

Londonderry public frog habitat and possum nesting boxes

Londonderry Public is home to a range of native frogs and Brush Tail Possums. The frogs seek hydration in unsuitable areas such as toilets and drains, and regularly perish due to the use of cleaning chemicals. The possums sleep in the rafters of the COLA. The students and staff wish to build a sanctuary/safe haven to ensure their protection and ongoing survival. Whilst promoting the importance of sharing our natural and local environment with our native wildlife. Londonderry Public School wishes to set an example for other schools in the community. The frogs are an important and essential link in the eco-system within our school grounds.

Lurnea High School

Support environmental learning area

The existing support environmental learning area (SELA) will be enhanced to allow for Support, Mainstream and Intensive English Centre students and class groups to utilise the facilities for educational and recreational purposes. It will also be an outdoor area for events open to families and members of the community. The SELA is located next to the existing School Herb and Vegetable Garden, where students are actively involved in the growing and maintenance of the garden. All students will take part in creating a friendship pathway through the Learning Area leading to the garden. The area will feature native plant beds that students have selected and planted, educational art including murals of the water cycle, plant growth cycle and cloud/ star formations. The planning and development of all aspects of the SELA are directly linked to classroom programs and learning outcomes for all students of varying learning needs. Expanding the SELA will enable students with disabilities and students without disabilities to work in partnership with community for improved environmental awareness.

Organisation	Project title
Main Arm Upper Public School	Outdoor learning area: native bees and their native food sources
Mayfield East Public School	MEPS Waste Busters
Meadow Flat Public School	Purple copper butterfly ecosystem
Minerva School	Sensory garden improvements
Mortlake Public School	Creating a natural pathway to friends
Moruya Public School	Water wise kids: teaching students water management skills
Mount Hunter Public School	Sensory garden and interactive learning space
Newcastle Senior School	Recycle, reduce and reuse project
Northmead Creative and Performing Arts High School	Reduce, reuse and recycle rubbish at Northmead CAPA
Oatley Public School	Oatley Public School's sustainable swales and sensory area
Oxley College	Oxley College water awareness program
Pacific Palms Public School	Bushland walk, bush tucker garden and Yalawanyi (sitting space)
Pennant Hills Public School	Small bird haven
Point Clare Public School	Reconciliation bush tucker sensory garden
Rydalmere Public School	A sensory garden for learning
Ryde Secondary College	The recycle and waste management project

Main Arm Upper Public School

Outdoor learning area – native bees and their native food sources

Australian stingless bees have long been an integral part of the Australian landscape and Aboriginal culture. The CSIRO recommends using native bee species to restore native ecosystems rather than exotic honeybees. Studies suggest they are excellent pollinators of native species, especially trees, including macadamias (widely grown locally). Native bees are not susceptible to the varroa mite or any other European honeybee disease. Our goal is to increase local ecosystem resilience by keeping stingless native bees and planting suitable native plants for their food sources, while educating students in an outdoor learning space about their many environmental benefits.

Mayfield East Public School

MEPS Waste Busters

The Student Representative Council of Mayfield East Public School will become the Waste Busters. Their goal is to reduce the waste used in the school community using a colour coded system of bins. The Waste Busters will be responsible for ensuring waste is sorted into general, reusable and green. The Waste Busters program is aimed at making the school community aware of their carbon footprint and promoting ways to reduce their ecological footprint.

Meadow Flat Public School

Purple copper butterfly ecosystem

Meadow Flat Public School is in the zone of rare purple copper butterfly. This butterfly only exists due to its unique ecosystem and it relationship with black ants, the black thorny shrub and direct sunlight. Students live on farms that have established purple copper butterfly colonies. The school will teach the students about the importance of having a balance ecosystem through establishing a purple copper butter fly garden, teaching students about protecting environments from weed infestations, and how to identify them.

Minerva School

Sensory garden improvements

Interactive sensory gardens provide a range of therapeutic opportunities for students to stimulate their senses in a safe and tactile environment. Developing the sensory garden would allow students an alternative educational setting whilst actively engaging in the life skills program. It is designed to cater for the wide range of ages and abilities of students within our school. This program underpins our core school value of becoming a successful part of the community. The garden will be a focus point for hands on environmental experiences of recycling, composting and water saving initiatives whilst developing the students as environmentally aware citizens.

Mortlake Public School

Creating a natural pathway to friends

Our school has recently celebrated its 125th Anniversary. To mark our school’s long history, we wish to create a native Australian memorial garden. Students will learn about local plants and animals, Aboriginal bush tucker knowledge and the principles of building environmentally sustainable future. Our garden aims to teach our children how to nurture and respect our indigenous Australian environment and will also establish a special place to remember the lives of our past students.

Moruya Public School

Waterwise kids: teaching students water-management skills

Since 2010 Moruya Public School has established an active kitchen garden program, including vegetable beds, fruit trees, a chook tractor (funded by Eco Schools Grant 2010) and a pizza oven in which Years K-6 students engage in garden classes linked to the curriculum in the areas of science, maths, English, creative arts, and environmental studies. The school was a recipient of a Community Water Grant in 2006 for the installation of water-saving devices. However, there has been limited opportunity to incorporate water conservation activities into the kitchen garden program due to a lack of resources. The school currently has several rain water tanks to complement town water supply. However, we would like to develop a complete water use educational facility which will include: a water meter at the kitchen garden rainwater tank outlet, a double sink wash-up facility, and rain gauges. To complement this facility, new water-focussed teaching resources will be developed. The program aim is to educate students about water conservation and encourage water wise behaviour at home.

Mount Hunter Public School

Sensory garden and interactive learning space

Our small school community lives on the very outskirts of suburbia and has a close connection to the land and the environment. Our project intends to involve students and our local community by developing a garden area within the playground to allow students to stimulate their five senses, attract and provide habitat for native wildlife and build gardens and features for a fun stimulating and interactive environmental experience. With our supportive P&C, we will conduct working bees and students will be involved in planning designing, planting and constructing. We hope to set up a worm farm, compost, pond, solar powered water feature and utilise tank water to develop a sense of ownership and responsibility within our school, for our local ecosystem.

Newcastle Senior School

Recycle, reduce and reuse project

Recycle, reuse and reduce project is based on developing a whole school approach to minimising waste across the school. Our aim is to enable students to develop environmentally sound skills and knowledge through hands on and practical experiences. We aim to establish a recycling centre within the school as well as a chicken coop and worm farm to effectively recycle our organic waste. Each class will sort their waste to minimise its impact on the environment. To ensure success of the project, staff and students will be educated through recycling of compostable and organic material.

Northmead Creative and Performing Arts High School

Reduce, reuse and recycle rubbish at Northmead CAPA

A survey of the school community raised concern regarding the level of littering in the school and lack of recycling. This project is aimed at educating students about the need to reduce, reuse and recycle their own rubbish, thereby creating an environmentally sustainable school. Living near a creek, the school has a responsibility to protect local ecosystems and waterways. The program will include a student education program (video/educational material), introduction of recycle bins in school playground/classrooms, and compost bins for school agriculture plot.

Oatley Public School

Oatley Public School’s sustainable swales and sensory area

We propose to plant trees on existing bioswales at Oatley Public School for stabilisation. Bioswales at the school are effectively reducing runoff. Tree plantings on the swales would prevent erosion of the bioswales. We also propose construction of a sensory garden. A sensory garden would add aromas and fruit to the environment and would benefit special needs students in particular. The garden would be located in the K-2 area of the school for easy access for the younger children. Our active ‘Green Sparks’ student group would plant and care for the trees and sensory plants, and harvest the fruits.

Oxley College

Oxley College water awareness program

Oxley College already has a strong sustainability education program with an established vegetable garden founded on permaculture principles. However, we have identified a need to develop a greater awareness and consideration of our precious natural resource – water. The purpose of the project is for students K-12, with a specific focus on K-6 and Stage 5 students to gain a tangible and first-hand understanding of the importance water plays in our lives, particularly in growing our own food. We hope to install a rainwater tank not only to help irrigate the garden but more importantly to model sustainable methods of water collection. This will be one part of a multi-faceted project aimed at instilling in our students the value of being ‘Water wise’ by involving students in hands-on activities such as monitoring, measuring and reducing our water usage.

Pacific Palms Public School

Bushland walk, bush tucker garden and "Yalawanyi" (sitting space)

The purpose of the Yalawanyi Project is to create a safe, inspiring outdoor educational area with a bush tucker and medicine garden. It is necessary to establish strong cultural and environmental links by providing opportunities for students, teachers and community to connect to country. The project will utilise the school’s own natural resources by regenerating an existing, unusable bush track to aesthetically enhance the area, whilst simultaneously creating a sustainable learning environment. With continued involvement from teachers, students and professional school community members, the benefits for the environment will include weed removal, bush regeneration, and habitat creation for local plants and animals. Yalawanyi will be a manageable and sustainable project for future students and teachers to embrace.

Pennant Hills Public School

Small bird haven

Our school playground has many tall trees and large grass areas which are the home for large aggressive birds like noisy miners and pied currawongs. The lack of smaller shrubs which are the homes for smaller birds means that these large birds have driven the smaller birds away. In our school and the surrounding area, the natural habitats for many small birds have disappeared due to the increase in the urban population and therefore the decrease in the amount of dense bush available to them. Our project aims to create a small bird haven which will provide a habitat where small birds can live, breed and take shelter.

Point Clare Public School

Reconciliation bush tucker sensory garden

Our project aims to create a sensory bush tucker garden that stimulates the five senses in an educational and engaging manner. Students will plant native shrubs and trees with interpretive signs that give information about the botanical, nutritional and medicinal properties of the plants. These signs will include Indigenous perspectives, including original locations and traditional uses of the plants. Signs will also be developed that guide students as to what sounds, smells, sights, tastes and textures they can experience throughout the garden. A central gathering area with natural seating will be incorporated as an outdoor learning area, including a sand sculpting pit, from which students can learn about traditional Aboriginal art symbols, as well as traditional Aboriginal land management practices.

Rydalmere Public School

A sensory garden for learning

An integrated unit of work will be developed, as part of the new Australian Board of Studies Curriculum. It will integrate literacy, numeracy, science with experiences in designing, creating and enjoying garden making. A new garden will be planted where a grassed area now stands. The emphasis of this garden will be sensory. The plants will be taken from local indigenous varieties with low water requiring properties where possible. This will result in the children making strong connections between the gardens, the environment and their learning at school, and the garden will be used in years to come.

Ryde Secondary College

The recycle and waste management project

The purpose is to develop a whole school recycle project designed to mitigate the paper consumption in our school and to eliminate litter. This program will develop whole school awareness valuing sustainability and recognising the importance of ‘going green’. The program will start with paper recycling collection with the vision of extending it to aluminium and plastics in future years. Through this program environment education will be developed and enhanced throughout our school. This will be achieved through authentic projects such as the development, implementation and review of a school-wide Waste Management and Recycle Plan.

Organisation	Project title
Sofala Public School	Sofala saves energy
St Francis De Sales Regional College	St Francis College energy awareness project
St Joseph's Primary Kempsey	Changing our behaviour - reducing and reusing our non-organic waste
St Joseph's Primary Leeton	Aboriginal education garden
St Michael's Catholic Primary Nowra	The animal park playground
St Paul's Primary School Rutherford	St Paul's striving for sustainability - waste reduction
Summer Hill Public School	The waste not organic recycling program
Swansea High School	Swansea High School Murabun bush tucker garden project
Taree High School	Aboriginal bush tucker garden
Timbumburi Public School	We've got worms!
Trangie Central School	TCS bush tucker garden and Aboriginal culture
Tumut High School	Lighting Tumut
Tweed Heads Public School	Tweed Heads Public School waste watchers
Waniora Public School	Waniora bush regeneration and bush tucker project
Waratah Public School	A greenhouse for the garden group
Warrumbungle Environmental Education Centre	Habitat for learning
Westmead Public School	Native regeneration of grounds
Whalan Public School	Building community through a sustainable indigenous garden
Windsor High School	Creating wildlife habitat
Winmalee Public School	The Dharug bush tucker journey
Wollongong West Public School	Bush tucker learning garden
Woolooware Public School	Endangered ironbark propagation
Yanco Agricultural High School	Yanco riparian restoration

Sofala Public School

Sofala saves energy

Following an energy audit, students identified areas of improvements that can be implemented to increase our school’s sustainability. Students identified the need for timers on our air conditioners, fans and lights, draught stoppers on the doors and insulation within the roof to ensure building temperatures can be maintained. To make the most of our tank water, installing a solar pump to enable us to use the stored water on our garden and outdoor learning area. This will provide sustainable management of the school operations as well as promote the students’ and teachers’ values that support environmental sustainability.

St Francis De Sales Regional College

St Francis College energy awareness project

As a result of a student initiated ‘Environmental Sustainability Audit’ conducted by the Year 12 Business Services VET students, it was discovered that many students of St Francis de Sales Regional College Leeton were not aware of the amount of energy used by common equipment used in the school. Furthermore, there appeared to be a significant reluctance for students to help minimise energy waste around the school. Students would not assist in simple actions to minimise waste such as turning off computers at the power source, recycling consumables and were negative about alternative energy sources such as solar. This project proposes to dramatically increase the awareness of energy use and waste around the school and develop a culture of ‘eco-sustainability’ through simple actions such as (1) turning off computers, air conditioners or heaters at the power point at the end of each day; (2) recycling more than just paper; and (3) being more aware of alternative energy sources for equipment such as solar power rechargers.

St Joseph’s Primary Kempsey

Changing our behaviour – reducing and reusing our non-organic waste

Our purpose is to change attitude and behaviour toward waste management. A holistic program of student and staff learning programs will facilitate behavioural change and reduce our school community’s’ waste footprint. External providers from the waste management and environment industry will deliver engaging activities to all K-6 classes to learn about waste, where it goes and what environmental impact it has. Those providers will deliver a workshop to teaching and ancillary staff on ‘living smart – waste management’ to improve their capacity to assist the students. Waste management concepts will be used in day-to-day teaching of curriculum for continual reinforcement of key messages. Industry volunteers will work with our environment team to assist ‘kids teaching kids’ about reducing, reusing and recycling. Key waste messages will be integrated at home through ‘pack to packet’ campaign aimed at reducing packaging in our lunchboxes (staff and students) Our outcome is to reduce the amount of waste being generated at our school and to achieve cost savings from rubbish removal.

St Joseph’s Primary Leeton

Aboriginal education garden

To transform a disused area of our school into an appealing outdoor learning centre which will educate our school community on the cultural significance of indigenous plants of the Wiradjuri people. We also aim to encourage local fauna to the area. A gathering area is planned for use in teaching and discussions. There is a need for Aboriginal education in our school community, to greater inform our school community of the rich cultural heritage upon which our school land was built. This project will benefit our school environment, with a culturally rich native garden, including an education area. It will promote the awareness of people in our community to the rich history of plant use by the Wiradjuri people, and promote positive relationships between local aboriginal people and our school community. It will make a make a difference to the community’s knowledge of these of these traditions.

St Michael’s Catholic Primary Nowra

The animal park playground

The Animal park playground will encourage connectedness to nature, stimulate knowledge of native animals and allow Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 children to develop risk-taking behaviour in a safe and supported environment. With wooden native animals carved by our local Indigenous community to climb on, a sandpit shaped as a life-size whale to play in and shipping rope snaked along the ground to balance on, it will be set amongst local native grasses. As a school community we recognise our children’s need to connect with nature at an early age to develop lifelong environmental stewardship and develop Indigenous understandings. The Animal park playground offers a fun and engaging way to stimulate a lifelong appreciation of nature and connect our children to the natural world.

St Paul’s Primary School Rutherford

St Paul’s striving for sustainability – waste reduction

This project is aimed at complementing our proposed vegetable garden. The worm farms will be established to reduce our waste and to provide the food garden with fertiliser. Our students will discover the benefits of recycling and sustainability in an enjoyable way. The frog ponds will add to the environment that we are looking to establish around our proposed food garden area. Gardens, water recycling, outdoor learning areas and the encouragement of fauna into the school environment are all aims of our project.

Summer Hill Public School

The ‘Waste not’ organic recycling program

The Waste not project will make a difference for the school environment by fitting the ‘missing link’ of organic waste recycling into our existing school recycling program. The Waste not program will provide a focus for teaching and learning programs about recycling organic waste. The project will expand our existing focus on sustainability by supporting teachers to engage students in meaningful, real world activities and enhance learning outcomes for students by training them to become informed recyclers of organic waste at school. Participation in the Waste not program will complement the skills and knowledge children gain through taking part in the school vegetable garden program. Success of the project may lead to students transferring the knowledge gained through taking part in an organic waste recycling program to their home environments, effectively becoming the teachers for their families.

Swansea High School

Swansea High School Murabun bush tucker garden project

Twenty years ago, the Swansea High School Environmental Centre was created – a walking tour within bush on our picturesque school grounds. The Environmental Centre is now vandalised, overgrown and not reaching its full potential as an Outdoor Learning Area. The Swansea High School Murabun Bush tucker Garden Project aims to regenerate the Environmental Centre by creating a sustainable native Aboriginal bush tucker garden which can additionally be used as an Outdoor Learning Area. The garden will bring together local community members and organisations, parents, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students, teachers and Student Learning Support Officers through both the Science and HSIE curriculums and Aboriginal Mentoring Programs.

Taree High School

Aboriginal bush tucker garden

This project aims to engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students with local cultural contacts, to develop a range of native bush tucker foods within the weGROW community garden setting. Teaching students about local culture and sustainable gardening practises helps the environment by encouraging social awareness of the impacts of humans on the environment. Through this project, we aim to encourage our Aboriginal and our Agriculture students to adopt home gardens and permaculture practices to teach sustainability to our students for the future generations. The project will also be used by the Science and TAS departments to raise environmental awareness, and to teach the natural cycles and photosynthesis. Product harvested will be used by students in their Food Technology subjects. The project also lends itself as a teaching medium for our Aboriginal Education classes, Sis and Bro Speak.

Timbumburi Public School

We’ve got worms!

The purpose of the We’ve got worms project is to develop an integrated whole school approach towards environmental sustainability, involving students, staff and community working together to change waste management behaviours. We will reduce, recycle and re-use the high waste output within the school through the construction of a worm farm and composting unit. This would provide a nutrient rich resource that would be used to regenerate the school gardens and give then the boost they desperately need. The outcomes would have positive results for the immediate school environment, develop environment stewards for the future and reduce our carbon footprint.

Trangie Central School

TCS bush tucker garden and Aboriginal culture

As part of the Coles School Garden Grants Program, Trangie Central School is building its Indigenous Bush tucker Garden this year. Our school is working towards sustainability by incorporating several other programs such as ‘Climate Clever Energy Saver Program’; EnviroCom and Narromine Shire Council’s Recycling Program. Our bush tucker garden focuses on connecting young Indigenous people and communities with the environment whilst teaching them about the importance of fresh fruit and vegetables (including traditional bush tucker foods) in a healthy diet. This is a joint program of NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group, Aboriginal Lands Council of Trangie and Trangie Central School.

Tumut High School

Lighting Tumut

Installation of wireless electrical usage monitors in two classrooms. One room to be left with standard lighting system, the other to have LED Panel lighting installed. Portable usage monitors to allow checking of various devices. Data used in Science, HSIE, English and Mathematics lessons to increase student awareness of energy conservation and as a numeracy teaching strategy. Students can have a significant impact on energy consumption in the school, their homes and future roles in the community. Promotion through children can have a significant impact on households. Activities will be linked to the current Earthwatch program. Informal surveying of school and community members has revealed a general lack of knowledge of energy saving strategies.

Tweed Heads Public School

Tweed Heads Public School waste watchers

Tweed Heads Public School is a small school situated on the NSW/Queensland border, surrounded by high rise holiday buildings. This project aims to educate students, families and community members in waste reduction practices and to establish a whole school recycling program. The initial focus will be on reducing, reusing and recycling paper. Following this will be the recycling of cardboard, plastics, glass, aluminium etc. The final phase will be collecting and composting food scraps and other plant materials for school food gardens and worm farms. Students will have greater knowledge and skills in sustainable living and improved school grounds.

Waniora Public School

Waniora bush regeneration and bush tucker project

A well-established native windbreak will be transformed into an indigenous nature walk complete with shady outdoor learning area built from recycled materials and bush tucker plantings. Indigenous plants will be provided by the Wollongong Botanic Gardens. Links to the new Australian Science curriculum will be facilitated by education consultants from the Illawarra Environmental Education Centre and Stages 1 to 3 will experience hands on activities from the Living World aspects of the syllabus. ICT will be integrated as students research indigenous plant species, create data banks of information and present as websites, YouTube videos and podcasts. Plant information will be accessed via QR codes on signage throughout the walk using iPad and other mobile technologies. The parent community are involved in the project by conducting working bees to clear and under prune the native forest and to create natural pathways and learning spaces.

Waratah Public School

A greenhouse for the garden group

At Waratah Public School we have a growing enthusiasm from the students, staff and community for our environmental projects that is limited by not having a greenhouse. We need a greenhouse to safely store our seedlings and protect our plants through the efforts in propagation activities. We have several staff and community members keen and willing to maintain the greenhouse and the school would include learning experiences into the sustainability areas of the broader curriculum.

Warrumbungle Environmental Education Centre

Habitat for learning

At the Warrumbungle Environmental Education Centre most student learning takes place on National Park tracks. At the Centre there is no comfortable outdoor place to gather students together for briefings on what the day will bring for the group or debriefings, to share what has been learnt during the day, before leaving for home. A circular seating area made from logs sourced from the arborist’s efforts clearing dangerous trees from tracks after the recent wildfire, would fill this gap. A woodworker will hew the logs with bottom sized seat shapes and enough logs will be used to seat 30 students.

Westmead Public School

Native regeneration of grounds

In 2009 Westmead Public School acquired the former Arts Unit campus to cater for our increasing student population. The surrounding gardens were in a state of disrepair due to the dereliction of the site. Last year a group of Year 6 students began researching plant species indigenous to the Cumberland Plain and, with a small budget and some community donations; they were able to start regenerating the gardens with indigenous and closely related varieties. This intended project would look at stage two of the initiative which involves removal of exotic species and weeds and planting of appropriate species on the northern and western sides of the building.

Whalan Public School

Building community through a sustainable indigenous garden

A native garden will be planted with a variety of bird and native bee attracting plants, including bush tucker species. An underused, grassed area will be converted into an aesthetically pleasing, bio-diverse ecosystem. Students, staff, indigenous and non-indigenous community members can observe the growth of and interaction between different plants, animals and insects within this sustainably maintained environment. A tree log, containing a native stingless bee nest, will be included in the garden due to its importance in aboriginal culture. Information boards, decorated with indigenous art produced by students, will communicate facts about bush tucker and native bees.

Windsor High School

Creating wildlife habitat

Windsor High School is located in the Hawkesbury and is close to existing areas that support many plant, bird and frog species. There are a number of bird and frog species that use the school grounds already and a canopy of trees, many of which are native to the local area. The school sits in an industrial zone and the surrounding area is increasingly being developed for industrial purposes, leading to the loss of habitat for native species. The school has already developed an ongoing commitment to creating sustainable environments for agriculture and horticulture and is keen to extend this to protecting species of plants and animals native to the local area. Additionally, the project will enhance the appearance of the school and provide a unique opportunity for the students and the community to learn about the plants and animals of the area and how to establish and maintain native plants.

Winmalee Public School

The Dharug bush tucker journey

Winmalee Public School has a well-respected name in Environmental Education within the Blue Mountains, however we have not managed to utilise the Dharug indigenous and cultural history which existed prior to colonial settlement. Farming led to the establishment of our community surrounded by dry sclerophyll sandstone ridge landscape which includes blue gum forest gullies. Our application outlines the Environmental Education requirements needed to use our immediate natural environment adjoining The World Heritage Area as a teaching and learning resource. The establishment of a bush tucker Garden using endemic species in an area of the school requiring regeneration along with the creation of K-6 units of work would provide our students and the local community with an ideal site as a resource and an outside learning space.

Wollongong West Public School

Bush tucker learning garden

The outdoor learning area will provide students and teachers with a comfortable, appealing, outdoor landscaped classroom and tour of an Aboriginal bush tucker garden. This landscaped area will connect the existing minimal bush tucker garden by a gravel stoned path with plants lining the edges. The outdoor learning area will include comfortable log seating to fit up to 35 students in a pavilion style semi-circle. The plants will be an educational tool for teaching students about the plants in our school. The plants will be professionally labelled with metal signs in the ground detailing the plants’ botanic name and purposes.

Woolooware Public School

Endangered ironbark propagation

The staff and students have been informed by our local GreenWeb officer employed by Sutherland Shire Council that remnant grey ironbarks form a small cluster on our school grounds. With these particular ironbarks being endemic to our local area and becoming increasingly scarce, the council GreenWeb officer inspired our students to pursue a means to propagate new plants from seeds gathered from our school site, and aim to work with our local council nursery to restore these beautiful trees throughout bush care sites across the Sutherland Shire.

Yanco Agricultural High School

Yanco riparian restoration

Yanco Agricultural High School is situated on 180 hectares of land, which borders 4 km of the Murrumbidgee River and includes a billabong in the remnant bush vegetation area. It has a fully functional farm, where crops, Lucerne and a combination of improved and native pastures are grown and grazed by stud cattle and sheep. Several of the paddocks are situated next to the river. When these paddocks are grazed, livestock cause damage to the riverbanks, resulting in erosion and trampling of plant species. These areas need to be fenced off to prevent stock from entering, and the water troughs need to be repaired in the paddocks so the stock can still access water. The riparian areas then need to be rehabilitated by replanting and maintaining local native species.