| Kingswood College is
a coeducational K-12 college which was founded in 1890, and
has built a reputation over the years for providing genuine
support for the unique needs of each individual. With this
core value in mind Kingswood has always been good at conserving
resources, particularly waste and water.
 In
the past Kingswood College have had many different environmental
based projects in place but these were mainly dependent on
particular teacher’s interests. Becoming a 5 star school
has enabled them to get programs, policies and procedures
in place which are integrated, cover all aspects of the school,
and are ongoing and not reliant on particular staff members.
The accreditation process also provided a framework, clear
goals, expert guidance and access to information. Teacher
Barbara Szafraniec said about the process “it saved
us an enormous amount of time”. The required commitment
of the whole school and endorsement by Council to achieve
accreditation meant that everyone had to be involved to some
extent. Barbara says that “Accreditation is a lengthy
process but this is good as it is a learning process as well
and it gives staff the incentive and time to become involved.”
Environmental education is an integral part of the Junior
School Curriculum with set integrated, class and whole school
units of work each year. In the Secondary School, sustainability
issues are a part of the curriculum at each year level in
different faculties. For example Year 7 suspends the timetable
for a week long integrated unit on Sustainability with different
faculties having input. In Year 8 all students do the ‘Clean
Oceans’ program as part of Outdoor Education. Year 10
do a huge study on the Murray Darling which encompasses social,
economic and environmental factors.
Each year Kingswood College hold special whole of school
events focusing on the environment and sustainability. For
example in 2007 the 3 day Science and Technology Workshop
in the Secondary School will have Sustainability as the focus
and the whole school will be involved in special projects
on Environment Day and Clean Up Australia Day. Kingswood is
very proud of the fact that sustainable practices are a part
of every day life at the school: they recycle huge amounts
of waste and the students just do it automatically, litter
is not a problem, water is conserved, water tanks are used,
gardens are grown using sustainable practices and water tolerant
plants and the ovals aren’t watered. Barbara says that
“by living sustainability we hope these practices will
become habitual.”
Kingswood College have undertaken many rewarding projects
in their journey towards becoming a 5 star school. They undertook
a whole school unit of work on water in the Junior School
in 2005. This involved lots of hands on activities, incursions
and excursions which the children loved and which provided
the basis for all future work and projects on water. With
issues surrounding water being of such a big interest for
the students Kingswood developed a wonderful whole school
‘Dance and Music Performance’ with the theme of
Water, and a unit of work in 2006 on desertification. One
of the aims of this unit was for the students to write and
perform in a whole school Production. This was done most successfully
and was performed in a huge hall to an audience of 800 people.
All areas of the curriculum were a part of this production
– from power point computer backdrops, to instrumental
performances, dance, public speaking, acting, and art.
 Barbara
says that the most rewarding project that Kingswood have undertaken
so far was ‘Water for Africa’. They watched the
video ‘Ryan’s Well’ as part of a study on
water distribution throughout the world. Then had a speaker
who had created a volunteer group to build wells in Mozambique.
The children were inspired and wanted to do something to help.
The Year 6 students organised a Walkathon for the Junior School
and $4000 was raised. Many of the students were exhausted
but wouldn’t stop walking because they wanted to raise
enough money to provide the water supply for a whole school
and its community. The Environment Captains spoke about this
in the Secondary School Assembly and then the Middle School
got involved too. Together they raised enough to build a well,
and provide a pump and piping to supply the school with water.
They received photos of their well being built and now have
an ongoing relationship with the school and with ‘Wells
for Africa’.
Kingswood College have many projects on the go at the moment.
They are investigating the costs of using solar pumps to irrigate
the many student gardens with tank water, and devising ways
to fund these systems. They have found that bucketing is impractical
and all the plants die over the summer when the school is
closed so a viable alternative is needed.
Kerb side recycling is progressively being introduced into
the Secondary school. This is now in place at the Tuck Shop
and Year 7 and will go on to Year 8 in 2007. One of the problems
has been the funding for this project. The Council provided
the bins for Junior School but they have to purchase bins
and pay for pick up in the Secondary School. This has cost
over $1000 per annum for just 2 bins, so they are investigating
how to fund it for the rest of the Secondary school.
 Another
rewarding project was the Waste Free Lunch Project which this
year expanded into a whole healthy eating push. All children
in Junior School bring their lunch daily in lunch boxes, containers
and paper. Snack packs and plastic are strongly discouraged.
Parents are asked to pack sandwiches, fruit, vegies, dairy
and 1 treat maximum. The children have a water bottle on their
desk and soft drinks are banned. The school have grown their
own vegetables and have had whole class salad lunches, cauliflower/broccoli
cheese and mushrooms on toast, all made from produce they
have grown. The school tuckshop has gone healthy too.
There is no stopping Kingswood College and there are already
many future plans for making the school more sustainable.
Energy is the schools highlighted theme for 2007 and they
have two projects planned which will involve the whole school
from Preschool to Year 12. The first of these is reducing
the College’s energy consumption which will achieve
the dual benefits of reducing capital costs and reducing Greenhouse
Gas emissions. Using detailed audit information from the past
three years, staff and students will be informed of the previous
patterns of GHG emissions on campus, and be given monthly
updates on the current GHG emissions. This will be achieved
graphically, through posters, emails and assemblies. Staff
and students will be informed about the specific Greenhouse
Gas emissions and energy costs associated with each workspace
in the Secondary College. This will be achieved by customised
posters available in each room and workspace. Staff and students
will be encouraged to actively switch off unused appliances,
including heating, lighting and computing equipment. Incentives
may be used if appropriate. Alternatives to private vehicle
transport to and from the college will continue to be encouraged
and supported.
The second Energy project aims to reduce the environmental
impact of the College’s energy consumption and social
equity by providing impoverished people with access to clean,
renewable energy. The Sustainability and Social Justice arm
of Kingswood College will join forces to raise funds to improve
third world living conditions and simultaneously achieve genuine
carbon offsets. By fundraising for the charity SELF.org (Solar
Electrification and Lighting Fund) the College will be sponsoring
the solar electrification of third world villages. This power
is used for lighting, cooking, refrigeration of vaccines and
pumping and purification of water. This renewable power supplants
current or future use of diesel and kerosene, and thus can
be considered a genuine fossil fuel reduction carbon offset.
The current target is to completely offset carbon emissions
from the College’s gas and electricity consumption in
2005.
Additionally, the College will be involved in a Green Power
awareness/signup drive with College stakeholders. Currently
this project is in trial development for 10 Victorian colleges
with the support of CERES and the associated company, Green
Canary www.greencanary.com.
The College is currently completing an extensive biodiversity
audit, and will be aiming to achieve a significant increase
in its biodiversity index over the next few years.
Kingswood College believe that educating and providing an
example of sustainability to their students and families is
what is important. If they are able to reduce school energy
costs then that money will fund the buying of green energy.
They have, in fact, found that practicing sustainable principles
is at times difficult. Kingswood College believes that the
principle of working towards the goal of a more sustainable
future, and the satisfaction achieved when projects are successful
is well worth the effort.
More
info.
For more information on Kingswood College contact Barbara
Szafraniec on szafraniec.b@kingswoodcollege.vic.edu.au,
(03) 9890 0677, or go to the Kingswood College website http://www.kingswoodcollege.vic.edu.au/.
|
