Sustainability
At Tatura Primary School we believe we can make a positive impact on our environment through the choices we make. We want our students to be more aware of their responsibilities for the environment, now and into the future.
Our school is proud to be part of the Resource Smart Schools program. Our goal is to reduce our environmental impact by making positive changes with our waste, water and energy usage as well as increasing our biodiversity. Teachers, students, parents and community members are working together to make changes in order for Tatura Primary School to be a more sustainable school. More information about Resource Smart Schools can be found at: http://www.resourcesmartschools.vic.gov.au/ |
Our students participate in days where they help to plant trees and clean up waste found around our local community.
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EnviroKids
The Tatura Primary School Envirokids is a student environment action team, made up of students from Grades 3-6. These elected students represent the whole school. The students meet regularly to discuss ideas, implement strategies and plan for future events.
At times their involvement may be very practical and hands on, while other meetings may involve brainstorming or reflective processes. Each week they present at our whole school assembly, have a visible notice board and have input into the school newsletter.
As part of the ResourceSmart program, we continue to work on Energy, Waste,
Water and Biodiversity modules in working to improve our star rating. Currently we are a three star school.
Some of the Envirokids achievements to date are:
¨awarded the Hume Waste School of the Year 2017
¨won the Student Action Team of the Year 2017 (Primary) at the Sustainability Victoria ResourceSmart Awards
¨ presenting a weekly sustainability award to a class that has shown excellence in the previous week
¨ celebrating “rubbish free” efforts with an end of term events
¨ promoting the 3 bin system in each classroom (waste, recycling and compost)
¨ we reduced the size of our classroom waste bins from 20 litres to 3.5 litre
¨ encouraging the whole school in reducing our landfill by 33 m³
¨ undertaken waste, energy and water audits with ResourceSmart facilitators
¨ introduced a "We're keen on Green" initiative to encourage the use of the half flush button, when possible, to reduce water wastage
¨ used a recycling song at the end of recess to remind students to each pick up a piece of rubbish
¨ supported the planting of over 200 trees in the school grounds
The Tatura Primary School Envirokids is a student environment action team, made up of students from Grades 3-6. These elected students represent the whole school. The students meet regularly to discuss ideas, implement strategies and plan for future events.
At times their involvement may be very practical and hands on, while other meetings may involve brainstorming or reflective processes. Each week they present at our whole school assembly, have a visible notice board and have input into the school newsletter.
As part of the ResourceSmart program, we continue to work on Energy, Waste,
Water and Biodiversity modules in working to improve our star rating. Currently we are a three star school.
Some of the Envirokids achievements to date are:
¨awarded the Hume Waste School of the Year 2017
¨won the Student Action Team of the Year 2017 (Primary) at the Sustainability Victoria ResourceSmart Awards
¨ presenting a weekly sustainability award to a class that has shown excellence in the previous week
¨ celebrating “rubbish free” efforts with an end of term events
¨ promoting the 3 bin system in each classroom (waste, recycling and compost)
¨ we reduced the size of our classroom waste bins from 20 litres to 3.5 litre
¨ encouraging the whole school in reducing our landfill by 33 m³
¨ undertaken waste, energy and water audits with ResourceSmart facilitators
¨ introduced a "We're keen on Green" initiative to encourage the use of the half flush button, when possible, to reduce water wastage
¨ used a recycling song at the end of recess to remind students to each pick up a piece of rubbish
¨ supported the planting of over 200 trees in the school grounds
Tatura Primary School has commenced an Envirokids program, featuring elected student representatives from years’ three to six. These students meet regularly, discuss and implement ideas to reduce waste and energy use, then present these to the whole school on a weekly basis. Additionally the Envirokids representatives maintain their own notice board and provide input for the school newsletter. At the end of recess each day, Envirokids play a Recycle It song reminding students to dispose and repurpose waste. In 2016, the team implemented a three bin system in each classroom for composting, recycling and waste complemented by awarding the winners of the ‘Golden Bin’ award to the most waste wise class on a weekly basis. The school has implemented a ‘half flush’ option on toilets to reduce the school’s overall water wastage by placing a ‘We’re Keen on Green’ sticker on half-flush buttons. Tatura Primary school was awarded the Hume Region Waste School of 2017 by reducing landfill waste by 33 cubic metres in 12 months. The students’ passion and enthusiasm for this program reaches the entire school community.
Resource Smart School Awards, 2017 |
Smart ways to pack our lunchbox so we can reduce the amount of rubbish we bring to school so Tatura PS can be rubbish free.
Sustainability at home and school
It’s not too hard to bring sustainability into the home as well at school. - Simple things can make a huge difference! - Turn off lights that aren’t needed - Turn off running taps - Recycle cardboard, paper and plastics; compost food scraps - Leave the car at home and walk or ride a bike - Use native or indigenous plants in your garden - Buy snacks in bulk and distribute into smaller containers |
