The Importance of Sustainable Schools

Our role as teachersAs teachers we need to

help show/teach the importance of sustainability so that caring for the environment becomes a part of EVERY DAY living – second nature

Do we know the issues?Make it REAL for

young people

The Importance of Sustainable Schools

Environment Care is a social justice

Do we give them the experience to LOVE the environment?

Do we give them the experience to HELP the environment?

Do we talk about the social justice of environmental care?

Are we guiding students towards good decision making – moral/ethical environmental care?

Are we helping our students understand the importance of environmental care that can help protect their future, and futures of their families?

The Importance of Sustainable Schools

Making behavioural change easy for students

1). Easy/convenient (IT’S NOT GOING TO BE EASY IN THE BEGINNING...)

2). Social value – eg: recycling tipping point (socially unacceptable to not recycle at home)

3). Knowing WHY 4). Strong leadership – Staff, SRC,

Green team, senior students etc 5). Rewards 6). Believing in it – Students won’t

believe if you don’t 7). Knowing HOW you/they can

help and that they can make a difference

The Green Team of 2010 – Our Achievements

Completion Of Core Module

Resource Smart (CERES)What was involved:Policy, case study, SETs,

audit of water, energy, waste to land fill, general recycling, paper recycling, biodiversity, transport, curriculum review, publishing ideas achievements beginning to create strategies for sustainable change

http://simon.academy.vic.edu.au/Default.aspx?Width=1366&Height=768

The Green Team of 2010 – Our Achievements

Policy Our ‘Sustainable Schools

Four Year Planner’, outlines the four resource modules we will undertake over the next four years. They are Water, Waste, Biodiversity, and Energy. Each year will focus on one module while maintaining and building upon all areas to help encourage sustainable thinking and consciousness within our school community.

 This years focus: ENERGY

The Green Team of 2010 – Our Achievements

SETs resultsSchool Environment

Tracking System

http://schoolenergysavings.com.au/login.php

The Green Team of 2010 – Our Achievements

WasteRecycling Bins Case studyMessage lost:Reduce (reduce your

waste), reuse (whatever you can), recycle (is the last step after the first 2 cannot be possible)

The Future 2011

Student Run ProgramThe green team starts in

the homeroomVoting for in Homeroom

with captain/Vice Captain

This will provide a constant awareness in the classroom, monitor

Homeroom teachers to remind students of their role – check rooms before leaving etc.

The Future 2011

WasteThis program needs to

strengthen and become a natural part of school culture

Encourage take in/take back

Teaching Students how to use bins correctly

Year Level Green team members show students how to appropriately use bins at year level assemblies

The Future 2011

Energy – our main focus

Schools have LARGE eco foot prints because of the nature of the community

We now use 50% more energy than we need

ActivityWe have great programs

in place to help us understand water restrictions, we need to start thinking the same way about energy

The Future 2011

Conclusion Curriculum challenge – Learning

& teaching, being inside and outside classroom

loving the environment Helping Making it real for young people Daily Challenge – daily

operations, daily management Community – Staff/students

(school community), parents/friends, local/government programs, Other. Future opportunity is to be a school that can set example for other schools

New staff members to join the team

WHOLE SCHOOL COMMITMENT