Sustaining the Vision

Katrina Wootton and Ann Wuth

A Whole School Approach

Introduction

Holy Spirit School in Townsville has developed a whole-school approach to ecological education which integrates the Australian Curriculum cross curriculum priority of Sustainability. This workshop will consider:

an ecological vision;

curriculum: teaching and learning;

management of school resources;

networking: partnerships and community involvement and

management of school grounds

Australian Curriculum – Cross Curricula Priorities:

Are you feeling like this????

Discussion

• Introduce yourself• Name a challenge regarding

incorporating sustainability?• Suggest a positive about embedding

sustainability into the curriculum?• What are you hoping to gain from this

workshop?

Who are we?

Holy Spirit School Principal: Mr. Paul Lucas

HSS PROFILE

Holy Spirit School is a large P-7 Catholic Primary School.

Current enrolment is approaching 900 students. 5 Year 5 Classes in 20134 Streams at each year level.3 Curriculum Developers2 Teachers for Students with Special Needs1 Guidance Counsellor3 Learning Support Teachers1 Digital technology Teacher1 Librarian24 Special Needs Students66 Students with Individual Learning Plans

What children say

“People shouldn’t leave litter around. Everyone should recycle their stuff.”

“We shouldn’t waste water.” “Children want to walk but they can't because of the cars.”

“We need to look after the animals.”

“Everyone should learn how to care for

the environment.”

What is an ecological vision?

Holy Spirit School strategy aims to encourage teachers and students to take on board the principles of sustainable development in their everyday work, achieving educational excellence alongside the goals of:

healthy living environmental awareness community participation global citizenship

How do we enact our Ecological Vision?

Holy Spirit School:

is guided by the principles of sustainable development

is an efficient school – consuming less energy, water and materials and producing less waste

aims to improve the local environment

helps students to learn about sustainability both in the classroom and from real life experiences.

Healthy Habitats for Schools

From bush tucker gardens and yarning circles, to frog ponds and seedling nurseries, Healthy Habitat for Schools has been working with the leaders of tomorrow to improve biodiversity in school grounds whilst also educating staff, students and parents about natural resource management.

NQ Dry Tropics has operated the Healthy Habitat for Schools program for a number of years, providing support, resources, training and a lot of elbow grease to schools in the Burdekin Dry Tropics region.

NQ Dry Tropics is proud to see the schools now calling on their newfound knowledge and skills to develop their own biodiversity projects.

Find out more at www.nqdrytropics.com.au

Acknowledgement: Paul Wuth

Background music: Autumn Day, Cipher, Easy lemon, Happy Bee, Inner Light, Reunited, Wallpaper, SunshineCategoryEducationLicenceStandard YouTube Licence

The eight doorways

Inclusion andparticipation

Travel and traffic

Purchasing and waste

Buildings andgrounds

Energy and water

Food and drinkGlobal dimension Local well being

Curriculum Organisation

Planning

Assessment/Moderation/Reporting

Putting it all Together

1

2

3

4

Curriculum: teaching and learning

Planning

Year 3 Year 6

Year 2 Year 4

HSS Curriculum PlanningHSS Curriculum Planning

Prep Unit

Management of school resources

Employ the “Four R’s”

ReduceReuseRefuseRecycle

Reduce and ReuseReduce use of single use and disposable products e.g. instead of buying bottled water, take a bottle with you from home.

Buy in bulk to reduce the packaging you collect. Choose concentrated products or refillable containers..When buying fruit and vegetables, pop them straight into the trolley rather than plastic bags.

If you don't read advertising mail, put a sign on your letterbox.

Plan your meals to use items before they go out of date. Compost your food scraps or use them in a worm farm.

Repairing household items can be a great way to reduce waste and save money.

Find innovative ways to re-use old bags, containers, building materials and clothing.

Give unwanted clothes, household items, or furniture to family or friends, or charities.

Washed takeaway containers make good stackable containers for frozen food.

Wash glass jars and use them again to store buttons and nails.

Use small plastic bags to wrap wet and smelly rubbish or to pick up after your pet.

Refuse and RecyclePlastic bags - take your own shopping bags, baskets or use a cardboard box if at the fruit shop

Don't buy disposable or single-use items, instead buy durable reusable goods

Bottled water - always carry your own reusable water bottle and refill it with free tap water

Don't buy items in containers that cannot be recycled. 

Buy products not packaging - avoid over-packaged items at the store.

When you buy recycled products, you are saving resources and reducing the impacts of pollution.

See if appliances and furniture can be repaired instead of replaced.

Find out what drop-off and recycling facilities are available in your local area.

Look for products that use recycled materials or are recyclable. This way you'll know that you're helping to keep useful materials and metals out of landfill.

Recycle unwanted plastic bags at your supermarket, or give them to charity stores who may use them

Networking: partnerships and community involvement

Yamini Trail

Management of school grounds

The Greening of Holy Spirit SchoolYear of Grace - Taking Climate Change Seriously 2013  Classroom Activities: • Music Maureen - Herb garden or .... Sue - Musical gardens • LOTE - Herb garden (Italian)•  • Learning Enrichment - Side garden•  • Library - Sr Stephen’s Rose Garden•  • Prep - Holy Spirit Happy Hens 

Management of school grounds

• Yr 1 - Flower pots and cement pipes outside rooms- Paper re-cyclers 1D

• Yr 2 - Butterfly Garden- Worm Farm- Composting Bin- Lizard Garden / Dinosaur Garden

 • Yr 3 - Sensory Garden and wheelbarrow gardens - Chess sets•  Yr 4 - Vegie Plots and flowers (near Year 4 rooms)

Management of school grounds

Yr 5 - Vegie Plots and flowers (near Tuckshop)

- Carbon Kids - School footprint

 Yr 6 - Vegie Plots

- Green House- Class gardens outside

rooms- Japanese garden

 Yr 7 - Battery re-cycling

- Mobile Muster- Class Gardens outside

rooms- Lynch Family Hall gardens

 

•Curriculum Team - Green and Healthy Schools Accreditation •Busy Bees- World Tree Day - World Environment Week activities

- Homer

Our School’s Ecological Pathway

Resources and tools

Carbon Kids

Reef Ed Teaching Units

Environmental Education (NSW)

Qld Sustainable Schools

Catholic Earthcare Australia

On Holy Ground

Sustainability Education

Sustainability Curriculum Framework

Pinterest: Sustainability for the Australian Curriculum

Discussion

• List 3 things from this presentation that you could take back to your school

To find out more

For more information or resources:

awuth@hsstsv.catholic.edu.au

kwootton@hsstsv.catholic.edu.au