The Importance of Sustainable Schools

2. The Importance of Sustainable Schools • Our role as teachers • As 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

3. 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?

4. 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

5. The Green Team of 2010 – Our Achievements http://simon.academy.vic.edu.au/Default.aspx?Width=1366&Height=768 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

6. 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

7. The Green Team of 2010 – Our Achievements • SETs results • School Environment Tracking System http://schoolenergysavings.com.au/login.php

8. The Green Team of 2010 – Our Achievements • Waste • Recycling Bins • Case study • Message lost: • Reduce (reduce your waste), reuse (whatever you can), recycle (is the last step after the first 2 cannot be possible)

9. The Future 2011 • Student Run Program • The green team starts in the homeroom • Voting 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.

10. The Future 2011 • Waste • This 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

11. 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 • Activity • We have great programs in place to help us understand water restrictions, we need to start thinking the same way about energy

12. 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