Pitlochry’s Eco Schools mission is to save our environment and build a better

future.

We are affiliated with the WESSA Eco School programme. “This programme is

an international programme of the Foundation for Environmental Education

(FEE) that was developed to support environmental learning in the classroom.

The programme is active in 67 countries around the world and has been

implemented in South Africa since 2003 by WESSA.

The programme is aimed at creating awareness and action around

environmental sustainability in schools and their surrounding communities as

well as supporting Education for Sustainable Development in the national

curriculum. With over 50% of the content in some CAPS subjects being

environmental in nature, Eco Schools makes a positive contribution towards

improving education in South Africa (WESSA: accessed 31/01/19)”.

We are in our 13th year of the programme and have achieved our Decade

Green Flag Award. Our goal is to inculcate good environmental values

amongst our learners and offer diverse education using our school grounds

during our lessons. Our gardens outside our classes are filled with indigenous

plants and we have a variety of eco-systems for learners to engage in learning.

Our vegetable garden is used to develop gardening skills amongst keen

learners and to teach them about sustainable living. The garden is also used

during our Geography lessons when we teach the section farming. The fruit

and vegetables we collect are distributed amongst our cleaners.

We have started a compost heap where all our dried leaves and grass cutting

are kept making compost. This compost is to be used around the school

gardens.

Our learners engage in problem solving and act to improve the environment.

As a result, learners develop a deeper understanding of environmental issues

and have the skills to make informed and responsible decisions.

We have an intense recycling program where learners collect the following

items and bring them to school.

• Rinsed plastic bottles

• Any clean plastic items that was to be disposed

• Bread tags

• Bottle caps - plastic only

• Grey water

• Newspaper

• Ink cartridges

The lessons we plan are in-line with the CAPS curriculum and linked to WESSA’s

recommendations when incorporating environmental education into the

syllabus.

We run several different projects con-currently during the year to promote a

holistic view of environmental learning for our learners.

Eco-club activities for January 2019

Week 1

We conducted an Eco School audit where learners walked around the school

to identify areas that need improvement. Here they learnt how to assess the

environment and will plan a strategy to rectify problem areas.

Week 2

The management identified a large tyre that needed revamping to make it

aesthetically appealing. The Eco club members enjoyed an afternoon filling

the tyre with sand and planting seedlings in it.

Large tyre identified – Before

Filling in sand

After – the tyre was painted and learners in grade R water and nurture the

plants daily.

Our vegetable garden

Learners planted new seedlings and harvested sweet potatoes

Recycling bottles and caps

Last year we collected bread tags – the funds collected will be used to donate

a wheelchair to the less fortunate

Our Eco School Award Winner – 2018. This learner was most dedicated towards

helping save the environment.