Sustainabilty 

St Mary’s Staff Green Team and Parent Green Team recently had the incredible opportunity to experience a Sustainability Road Trip. Five staff members and five parents were welcomed and inspired by three schools who are conscious to improve their Sustainability journey. We visited Colbinabbin Primary School, St Francis of the Fields in Strathfieldsaye and Epsom Primary School. It was very interesting to observe how other Green Teams worked within their school. As we all traveled together in a mini bus, it offered plenty of time to collaborate ideas and brainstorm further growth for our school. 

After a meeting with Leadership, we have purchased $1000 worth of bins to improve our waste / recycling/ organics procedures. We already have zero food waste at our school but we are now tightening up where our waste and recyclables go. This new system will be introduced at Assembly next week which includes a trophy that is in the process of being designed. This idea came from Epsom Primary School. The trophy will be awarded to the class who has acted on our new waste/ recycling/ organics procedure with the most consideration. The winning class will win a half hour reward with our Inclusive Year 6 Leaders either in the garden, with our school animals, crafting or an outside game. Consistently fine tuning our actions is an expectation of being a ResourceSmart School.

St Francis of the Fields were very inspiring in the way they use their garden to enhance hands-on learning for their students which is embedded in the Curriculum. It got us very excited to come up with some ideas for a new design for our school garden / sustainability area. This area needs a revamp after the Prep toilets were put in. Our new Year 6 Green Team researched ideas on Tuesday which they will be presenting in two weeks. We will be asking all classes to offer their input. 

We were inspired by Colbinabbin Primary’s design of their chook house and gardens. It is very much a central part of their environment and learning. They have excellent signage for all community members to be aware of what goes where including soft plastic collection for the whole town. Their Year 6 Green Team were exceptional leaders where they had arranged a speech and tour for us on arrival. This is something we will take on board for leadership opportunities for our students.

Now that St Mary’s has a Parent, Staff and Student Green Team, our school is advancing rapidly in Sustainable Practice. We are also close to becoming a Four Star ResourceSmart School. Gaining insight of what other schools do adds significantly to this growth. We are blessed to have so many passionate leaders and our school community on board. We are not only decreasing our environmental footprint, we are raising a generation of conscious students who are building a positive environmental impact for the future.