Waste Wise School

ACT SUSTAINABLE SCHOOLS INITIATIVE

Profile

O’Connor Co-Operative School (CCS) is an early Childhood School for children aged 4-8 years. It is the only early childhood school in Canberra and provides educational programs for students in Preschool, Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2. Out-of-school hours care and long day care is available on-site.

Initiatives

Vision

The Cooperative School is an Early Childhood School committed to developing a sustainable environment in which a community of learners can work together, taking responsibility in personal, social and environmental care.

Planning

In 2004, members of our staff attended a Waste Wise Workshop. The workshop provided information on how to manage waste and highlighted the importance of a whole school approach and student involvement.

The staff unanimously supported the program and a meeting was held to develop a what, when, who, where, why, how, and scheduled strategies.

In term 3, 2004 we signed an agreement to demonstrate our commitment to become a Waste Wise School.

The Principal received support from the P&C and School Board. A planning committee was established, a review of current practices
conducted and a School Environmental Management Plan (SEMP) developed.

Implementation

We wanted waste management to be fun:

  • A Magician gave a performance to introduce the Waste Wise Program into the school.
  • The ‘Jigsaw Theatre’ did a performance showing how to turn a everyday junk into amazing characters
  • Waste and litter activities were embedded into the curriculum and included in the school goals
  • We cancelled our hopper and Woolpak (Canberra Recycling)
  • Our purchasing practices were changed to reduce waste
  • The school visited a NoWaste Educational Centre to learn more about recycling and waste management. We also visited a school environment centre to see their chickens, veggie patch and worm farm.
Results and BenefitsA graph of the waste wise results for COOP school

The school won $2000 in ‘The Living City….What’s your Plan’ competition.

  • Money from a Landcare Grant was used to establish an Enviro Corner in the school grounds. Compost bins, a guinea pig cage and vegie gardens were constructed in this area. The Enviro Corner has been incorporated into the curriculum, as a resource for students learning about sustainability.
  • We were successful in getting a team from Conservation Volunteers Australia to work at our school through the Green School Connect Grant.
  • The school has been accredited as a Waste Wise School and we are now planning future strategies to become more sustainable.
 
O’CONNOR CO-OPERATIVE SCHOOL

Waste Wise Stations were set up throughout the school. These consisted of: Paper and Cardboard Recycling, Mixed Recycling, Organic Recycling (compost and food for our worms) and Non-Recyclable RubbishA picture of a student from COOP school using the waste wise bin

  • The Waste Wise stations were emptied each day by staff and classroom monitors
  • A ground committee was established to plan, design and construct a recycling area
  • Children were encouraged to have a lunch box and take any rubbish home.
  • Applications were drafted for grants to offset costs and we painted calico bags highlighting waste reduction strategies and sold them at the school fete.
  • The Enviro corner was incorporated into the curriculum

Our school was accepted into the ACT Sustainable Schools Initiative Pilot Program. The whole school then became committed to ‘educating for sustainability’

The Sustainable Schools Initiative was incorporated into our Curriculum Renewal and  we developed a ‘A World of Learning ‘ Curriculum Model incorporating the Essential Learning Achievements (ELA) relevant to sustainability


Results and Benefits
  • The school won $2000 in ‘The Living City….What’s your Plan’ competition.
  • Money from a Landcare Grant was used to establish an Enviro Corner in the school grounds. Compost bins, a guinea pig cage and vegie gardens were constructed in this area. The Enviro Corner has been incorporated into the curriculum, as a resource for students learning about sustainability.
  • We were successful in getting a team from Conservation Volunteers Australia to work at our school through the Green School Connect Grant.
  • The school has been accredited as a Waste Wise School and we are now planning future strategies to become more sustainable.
Facts, Quotes, Hints
  • It is of great benefit for students to: see where their waste goes, visit a recycling centre and visit a landfill site
  • Visit another school that has already established systems e.g. worm farms, veggie patches and chickens
  • Bring creativity into the learning process - invite magicians, theatre groups etc