Sustainability

In 2019 we received a grant from Barwon Water to the value of $500. We were currently working on our Waste Star so we purchased two Subpods to begin our composting journey at TCPS. When our Subpods arrived we decided that we would need find a space in our yard that our students could easily access the subpods and an area that would benefit from the composting system. We choose a patch of grass that was not really used and decided to create a garden around the subpods. Barwon water, once again, come to our aid and offered 200 indigenous edible plants for our garden.  We then came up with a garden design and started planning our garden creation. In order for the students to safely access the subpods without disturbing the garden we needed to create a path to preserve the plants and yet allow access to the subpods. So we created mosaic tiles in art with our grade 6 students that would create a path through the garden and access to the subpods.

With our plan now firmly in place we set to work in 2020 by first installing the subpods. We dug holes and removed dirt to fit them into the ground. Next we needed to lay out or mosaic tiles and plant the plants.

Once we had the plants in the ground we needed to mulch around them and water them in. We then begun caring for our plants and weeding the garden bed.

Whilst working on our Biodiversity Star we knew that we had increased our plant numbers in the school but then we looked at ways to increase our animal habitats and attract more animals to our school. We researched different ways that we could do this within our small garden space and come up with the idea for bee and bug hides. We purchased and decorated some bee and butterfly homes and placed them at the back of our garden. We then researched and grew from seed (donated by Woolworths) bee and insect attracting plants. To save the integrity of our Indigenous Garden, we planted these plants in wheelbarrows placed at the back of our garden to attract the bee and butterflies to their new homes.

With interest buzzing around the school from our garden we researched and learnt about the 7 Coolum seasons of the Waddarung first nation’s people and decided to include totem poles decorated in traditional painting techniques into our garden. These represent the seven seasons and add color and attract interest to our garden. With so much to learn about in our small space we added interruptive signage to our plants so we could tell what was growing and where.

Finally we invited traditional owners from the Waddarung first nation’s people to come and open our garden with a Welcome to country and a traditional smoking ceremony.

We are very proud of the journey we have gone on with our garden and look forward to watching it grow.

During STEM this term, students have been investigating different animals and their habitats.  To encourage greater biodiversity within our school grounds we have created a bee garden to entice more bees.

Brightly coloured bee boxes are a new addition to our garden and we are happy to report that we have already seen some very happy bees buzzing around amongst the lavender bushes.

A big Woop, Whoop Wow to Mrs Christoe who has been growing various bee loving plants from seeds that have been kindly donated to us. The plants are thriving and are now in our newly decorated wheelbarrows thanks to our talented art club students.

We are really looking forward to Spring and excited to witness how many bees call TCPS home.
 

Please click HERE to view the 2020 Annual Report

 In celebration of Water Week and learning how to save water at school and at home, all students have worked with Barwon Water and their virtual resources to learn about the journey that it takes for water to reach our taps. We learnt about the Barwon Water cycle and ways to save water in our home and at school. At school we have posters around our half flush button on all of the toilets so that our students can remember to make the choice to use the half flush which saves water.

Students explored a mini water cycle experiment and have had the chance to participate in a saving water colouring competition with prizes to be won.

Students have explored data from our new SWEP logger – this is a data logger that is attached to our school water system where students can monitor our water usage through graphs and tables. It’s exciting to learn that we have the power to save water in everything that we do at TCPS. This forms part of our Resource Smart Schools Sustainability program where we have been focusing on water and waste usage this year.

Senior students also conducted a water audit around our school grounds to add information to our water saving systems – this is a great way for our students to see the impact each one of us makes on our everyday choices.

2019 – Our actual water usage was 34.2KL per student

2020 – Our goal water usage was 25.0KL per student

2020 – Our actual water usage was 23.0KL per student

We have been working on our Waste Module at TCPS and were lucky enough to secure a grant from Barwon Water to help along the way.  We have then used the grant to purchase two Subpod composting systems for our school. These we have put in our Garden outside the STEM room. This garden will eventually become an Indigenous edible garden with plants also supplied by Barwon Water. We look forward to showing you the progress of the garden space.

Sustainability Annual Report

We were lucky enough to win a $500 grant from Barwon Water for a sustainability project in 2019. While developing our sustainability program we saw a need for a better suited composting system, as well as a wonderful space outside of our STEM room that was suited for an interactive garden.

Our Indigenous Garden project is bringing together the needs of our school and creating a wonderful learning opportunity for our students. Over this term our students are working with Barwon Water for our sustainability program development.

We are using the SubPod Composting system and have already buried the two systems into our soil. Students are learning about the benefits of food scraps to the enrichment of our soil. We will be planting Indigenous and edible plants into the space and will be adding artistic sculptures and plaques as we grow over the years.

We are looking forward to our students being involved with the entire process.

Here are some photos of the initial stages of the project, and some work that prep students have done during STEM class.

Here is the link to SubPod – an Australian invention – if you would like any more information. www.subpod.com.au

This year our school is taking action to become environmentally sustainable through a Victorian Government initiative called RescourceSmart Schools.

ResourceSmart Schools is a program that helps our school embed sustainability in everything we do. Through the PPP school project, we have a partnership with CERES Environment Park. They will be supporting us to complete our ResourceSmart modules. These include:

• Core Module
• Waste Module
• Water Module
• Biodiversity Module
• Energy Module

Energy at TCPS revolves around our commitment to student learning. Students engage in Energy Sustainability programs through our inquiry curriculum that connect to community and world wide initiatives.

We can't wait to share our achievements with you, reduce our school's impact and contribute to a sustainable future for all.

Over the course of our first year at Torquay Coast PS, we have embarked on our sustainability journey.

First we have created a group called WWEB Warriors. This stands for:

W – Water

W – Waste

E – Energy

B – Biodiversity

And we are warriors because we stand up for what we believe in, which is making our school as green as we can.

We have created our Sustainability Wall in our school common area where we display all of our sustainability celebrations.

We received a Land Care grant where we were able to make our own wheelbarrow gardens, we grow herbs and succulents so that we can sell them back to our community.

We have worked with Bunnings to install a frog pond to hopefully increase the number of native frogs back to our area.

We are working as a team to complete our Resource Smart Sustainable Schools Star Accreditation.

We are focussed on reducing our energy and waste, including our use of paper. We confidently use our waste recycle bins around our school and can be proud to say we promote healthy, wrapper free lunches.

This journey is bringing our community together with a strong focus on keeping our future green. We ensure our events and activities are as sustainable as we can and we are constantly reviewing what we do. We are committed to this journey and our core curriculum is embedded with a sustainable focus.

Our students love being a part of the WWEB Warrior group and learning about how they can help to keep our Earth in the best condition we can.