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Aldavilla Public School

The school ethos The school motto ‘Caring, Co-operation, Courtesy and Commonsense’promotes the values of respect and responsibility and the school stronglysupports student citizenship and leadership through the StudentParliament and debating. Environmental Conscience classes encouragestudent leadership, cooperation, tolerance and environmentalsustainability. After a long involvement in environmental activities such as National TreeDay and plantings, in 2008 Aldavilla Public School began a more integratedsustainability program with a blossoming of new activities with asustainability focus. A plan to improve the playground evolved into a muchlarger sustainable education program incorporating sustainability andenvironmental learning into the curriculum. Environmental activities havechanged the way students view sustainability and the role of individuals inprotecting the environment. In 2010 the school won the Director- General’sSchool Achievement Award for Environmental and Sustainability Educationfor its Human Sign Project.

Getting started and governanceInitially, students and teachers were concerned with tidying up the groundsand replacing wooden structures that had been destroyed by termites. Thisled to the replacement of retaining walls, planting new shrubs and creatingan amphitheatre to form an outdoor classroom. The Principal and aCommunity Projects Coordinator sourced funding for projects from schoolfees, grants, community fundraising and donations. The CommunityProjects Coordinator’s salary is partially funded through the PrioritySchools Program. Volunteers helped with outdoor construction andthrough this process, teachers and students engaged with the localenvironment and wider school community. The Coordinator’s role andstrong Principal support has been crucial to the program. Establishing links between practical activities and classroom learningoutcomes was a challenge for the teachers. The school decided to developa School Environmental Management Plan (SEMP) that concentrated onbuilding sustainability learning into the curriculum, management ofresources and of school grounds. The school referred to the SustainableSchools NSW (SSNSW) website when developing and writing its SEMP. Student engagement and environmental leadership are in the school’sAction Plan as including students in decision-making is part of the school’scommitment. The responsibility to drive the Human Sign project was withthe schools’ Student Parliament and they were approached for suggestionsto create sustainable areas and to improve the school grounds.

Case study

'A strong environmentalconscience can becommunicated throughour students to familyfriends and the widercommunity to createwellbeing for all.’

Community Projects Co-ordinator,Aldavilla Public School

Strengths

strong school ethos andPrincipal supportstudent leadership via theStudent Parliamentbuilding sustainability into thecurriculumnetworks and partnershipsdriven by the CommunityProject Coordinator andstudents.

www.aldavilla-p.schools.nsw.edu.au aldavilla-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Aldavilla Primary School opened in 1992 and is located west of Kempseyin a rural setting close to the Macleay River and Stuart McIntyre Dam. In2010 it had an enrolment of approximately 250 students, with asignificant percentage of Aboriginal students.

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Teaching, learning, curriculumIn 2009 Aldavilla Public School introduced integrated unitsof learning focusing on the environment. The unit‘Biodiversity’ was integrated into Stage 1 English, maths,visual arts, sport, dance, music and interpersonalrelationships. The students classified organisms intogroups, wrote reports and poems, drew animals,conducted a biodiversity audit in the playground, andsang and composed music. Other students completed the‘Permaculture’ unit where they learnt about permaculture,companion planting and plant classification. Students alsoanalysed the soil and built a functioning compost heap.They then created plays, paintings and music in responseto their learning. In Stage 3, the students studied ‘Ice CapIndignation’. All Key Learning Areas (KLAs) are covered inthe history, geography and science of Antarctica, as wellas the impact humans have had on this fragileenvironment. In addition to studying units of work, students areinvolved in special projects. Stage 1 students plantpumpkins for the Junior Landcare Pumpkin Challenge.They weigh the pumpkins and graph the results. Stage 2students grow spinach in their weekly EnvironmentalConscience classes. The class revolves around a range ofenvironmental issues and a focus on healthy eating, withteachers volunteering one hour towards classes. While one benefit of the Environmental Conscience classis that the children become used to eating healthyvegetables, they also learn about marketing. Last yeareach student received a bunch of spinach and sold thesurplus to staff. Students also calculated the budget topurchase ingredients for a spinach quiche cooking day.Garden Grubs – a volunteer group of students whomaintain, weed, tidy and mulch school gardens once aweek – is an outcome of the program. With theseactivities, learning for sustainability is an acrosscurriculum perspective.

Resource managementAldavilla Primary School has installed solar panels tosupply some of its electricity, and feeds the excess backinto the grid during the weekends and holidays. A 90,000-litre in-ground concrete water tank is used toirrigate gardens and ovals, and flush toilets. Maintenanceincludes checking for dripping taps and cisternefficiencies, and mulching gardens to retain water. Theschool was Waterwise accredited in 2007. Saving energy is encouraged. Students have learnt toremember to turn off lights, make use of natural light andventilation, and to keep doors and windows closed whenusing the air-conditioning. There are paper and plasticrecycling programs, as well as worm farms and compostheaps.

School groundsBuilding sustainability into the curriculum had flow-oneffects on the school’s physical environment. Studentssuggested ideas to improve the school grounds to make itmore sustainable.As a result, the school grounds havebeen enhanced by a new rainforest garden and a frogpond, where students can observe the lifecycle of frogs.Students suggested designs for the frog pond, helpedbuild it and help with pond maintenance through regularcleaning and refilling. The garden and pond also attractwater birds into the school. More than 45 orchard trees have been planted, includingoranges, lemons, mandarins, limes, tangelos, avocadoes,carob, figs and macadamias. This benefits theenvironment by teaching students how to grow healthyfood, save water, compost and recycle, identify fruits andplants, and use worm farms. The fruit complements theschool’s healthy eating programs which have grown fromthe Healthy Canteen, which has been at the school formany years. In 2008, Aldavilla Primary School received an Eco Schoolsgrant from the NSW government’s Environmental Trust tobuild an outdoor environmental classroom. The studentswere involved in all steps of the project from design toexcavation, preparation, planting and ongoingmaintenance. A hands-on approach and commitment tothis project enabled students to link the practical with thetheory in many subjects taught in the school curriculumincluding numeracy, literacy, science, writing reports andscientific papers. The outdoor environmental classroomenabled students to learn about sustainabilityamong the flora and fauna and be more effective andproductive than in the classroom. The school’sEnvironmental Conscience classes are held in the outdoorclassroom.

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Networks and partnershipsThe school received a Coles Junior Landcare Grant toextend the vegetable garden. The local Coles storedonated seeds, gardening implements and signage, and alocal company supplied over 15 metres of Re Earth(garbage that is turned into soil). A Kempsey Shire Council project for a biotreatment swalewas designed to treat stormwater beforeit entered the creek. The school planted out the swalewith the help of a Waterwise educator. The school also received a Durri Aboriginal MedicalService Grant for the planting and maintenance of anorchard and Centrelink donated trees. In 2009 Aldavilla Public School was the lead school in aHuman Sign Project. Seventeen local public schools joinedthe school to create human signs to raise awarenessabout global warming and climate change. Aldavillaselected the topic ‘Future?’ because it signified the needfor all people to be concerned about the environment andto reflect on what action could be taken for the sake ofthe future. The Human Sign Project received support from the RSL,local credit union, local council, and water and electricityauthorities. The money donated paid for the hiring of ahelicopter for aerial photography and the production of4000 DVDs. An equivalent number of trees were plantedto offset the carbon emission of the helicopter.

Learning outcomesStudents involved in learning for sustainability are moreaware of food production, environmental issues, and theactions each person can take to make the communitymore sustainable. Students are better engaged through active learning anddecision-making in the Student Parliament. Students now have an expectation that they will beinvolved in environmental activities. The program is ‘notteacher reliant but student focused – and it is a work inprogress’.

The school now has exceptionally strong links to fellowschools, government authorities and businesses,developed through its sustainability programs.The mostpressing professional learning requirement is ‘the need tolink sustainability to the curriculum’. To deliver thisoutcome the school provides in-house and in-timelearning. Staff can discuss ideas and attend workshopsthrough links with the Department of Education andCommunities' Environmental Education Centre andLandcare. Learning for sustainability has become embedded in theschool curriculum. All students, Kindergarten to Year 6,engage in practical activities, such as tree planting, whichare supported by informative lessons. In an interview in the Daily Telegraph (5/08/10) Aldavillastudents were asked, ‘What changes would you make ifyou were Prime Minister?’ Three of the eight responseshad a sustainability focus: ‘I would get cars installed with batteries so there would beless pollution and construct battery charging stations on thehighways.’ ‘We should be using solar energy because it would reduce thebills.’ ‘I would lower the prices of water because it should be free,as it is an essential everyday need.’