Sustainability

Green Magpies

💚💚Waste School Story and Successes! 💚💚

Water Module

In Term 4, the Green Magpies have been focusing on the Water Module as part of our Smart Schools initiative. We began updating our data and evidence on our Water module to ensure our school continues to improve its sustainability practices. 

As part of our learning and engagement activities, we ran a colouring competition to raise awareness about water conservation among students. We have also been exploring practical ways to save water around the school, such as using our newly awarded weather station to help predict rainfall and adjust sprinkler use accordingly. In addition, we’ve been working on educating the school community about effective water management and the importance of protecting this valuable resource.

National Water Week

Written by: Audrey M, Martine & Riley T

About National Water Week (NWW)

National Water Week is an annual event in Australia that raises awareness about water's importance and encourages communities to conserve water resources. 

The 2025 theme is "Water Heroes: Save Every Drop."

When is it? When is Water Week? You may ask. Well, National Water Week in Australia is during the 3rd week of October. Schools and the community acknowledge the water we use. 

Why do we have it? National Water Week exists to raise awareness about water-related issues and inspire communities to work together on water sustainability. It reminds everyone about the importance of clean water.

Facts about water:

• 71% of Earth is water.
• 2.3.5% of Earth is fresh water. 
• 96.5% of Earth's water is salt water. 
• Water on Earth has been on Earth for at least 4.4 billion years

Does Coliban water run the Water Week? Yes, Coliban Water participates in National Water Week and runs various events and activities each year. The company uses this week to engage with the community to promote sustainable water use and highlight the importance of water in everyday life and for the environment. 

Visit the link to find out more: //www.nationalwaterweek.org/

EPS Water Week Colouring Competition

To celebrate National Water Week, The Green Magpies decided to run a colouring in competition. We drew up a few design and ultimately decided on two designs, one for Preps-2's (Lexi O) and one for 3-6's (Rylie M). When it came time to choose the winners, the Green Magpies showed great professionalism and teamwork. They carefully judged each entry, looking for artwork that was vibrant, colourful, and creative.

Grass Gurus Classroom Challenge

This term, we introduced the inaugural Grass Gurus Classroom Challenge. Each grade was given a Grass Gurus kit consisting of a clear container, some dirt and some wheatgrass seeds. They were given 2 weeks to grow some grass for our guinea pigs.  All the grades were talking about strategies, such as: Do we soak the seeds first? Do we water them every day? How much water do they really need? Let the growing begin!

Judging day arrived. All grades delivered their containers to the Green Nest. The Green Magpies set off to find the lushest, healthiest-looking grass. All entries were numbered, so they didn't know whose entry they were looking at. The Green Magpies cast their votes, and with 9 votes, 2J was awarded the honour of being the 2025 Grass Gurus!

However, the judging didn't stop there! It was the piggies' turn! All the containers were placed into the guinea pigs' enclosure. We released two guinea pigs at a time. After wandering around and having a good sniff, the guinea pigs all headed to one particular patch, and that patch belonged to 3/4H! Well done to 3/4H for being awarded the Piggies' Pick Award!

As always...we are busy bees in the garden...