Coles Sustainability Schools Winner
Congratulations to Aara from 4LM for her winning entry into the Coles Sustainability4Schools Competition. Aara's entry explained how we are working towards reducing rubbish in the yard at Oatlands. The prize is an outdoor bench made from 98% recycled plastic which will be placed in our school grounds.
You can read her award-winning writing here.
Did you ever think that a small child in Grade One would be able to change matters to a whole school? Well, it happened at Oatlands Primary School! In 2018, a boy named William came up with the idea of painting small little blue whales next to the drains so everybody remembered where the rubbish that goes down the drain ends up in! This ingenious idea has a true story behind it, a true story that will make your head explode!
It started when William saw all this rubbish and junk in the drains. He was only in Grade One but William understood the fact that any rubbish in the drains would end up in a sea creature's home. Knowing that would harm the little animals, he made a complaint. But who did he make a complaint to? Our art teacher! He wrote a little letter to the art teacher about how there was rubbish in the drains. But here’s the catch! He told the art teacher that he needed her paint resources to paint little blue whales next to the drains to remind everyone where the rubbish went. It was time to take action on sustainability!
The art teacher agreed and the work was to get started. But it was not herself who was painting the whales, it was small William! It showed that no matter what age you are, you could make a difference! This drastically changed the product of drains. Sometimes there is still some rubbish in there, but there used to be heaps more of it!
Everybody appreciates this idea of William’s and thinks it's a good thing to think about. Just imagine someone bringing a pile of rubbish and dropping it on your bedroom floor! That wouldn’t make you very happy! It’s the same with animals. They deserve what we do!
Aara 4LM