Towards a Sustainable Future
at
Clayton North Primary School

Clayton North Primary School is a member of Schools for a Sustainable Future. They have been very active in running environment projects which they have found to nurture positive attitudes among students.
Pictured above students are taking part in "Greening the Grounds".

Greening the Grounds

Students were involved in planning the gardens and, most importanty, planting most of the seeds.

The children and local community planted hundreds of bushes, and areas - that had been barren eyesores - have been turned into attractive bushy gardens.

Waste and Energy

As a School For a Sustainable Future, we are finding ways of reducing the school's impact on the environment. The children regularly make jotter pads from used paper and photocopy misprints. We encourage all teachers to use double sided photocopying whenever possible, and to only print the exact number of copies required.

At the moment my grade is in the middle of an energy audit of the school. This involves counting all the energy using appliances. One lunch hour we will turn everything on and in another hour we will have everything turned off. By reading the electricity and gas meters, we should be able to get an idea of how much energy we use. Our aim is to encourage the whole shcool to turn off lights and appliances when a room is not in use.

There should be a significant reduction in energy use (and costs).

Outcomes for the school community

Our primary goals have been to make a more pleasant working environment and to plant hardy native srubs that would attract birds to the grounds.

We want our children to learn in attractive, interesting surrounds, incorporating as much of the natural environment as possible. We want them to develop an awareness of mankind's effect on the environment and to develop the attitudes of responsible citizens of the future.

It is our job to make sure that our children learn how to take care of the world that they will inherit.

Written by Steve Ramsey, Teacher at Clayton North Primary.

City of Monash
Proudly supported this project