Western Port Secondary College began its journey towards becoming a sustainable school in 2004, and finally received our accreditation in 2007. We are very proud to be the first government secondary college to be accredited with the 5 star status.

We are a Medium Sized secondary college with approximately 780 students and many specialist teachers and subjects. In the past we have been involved in many environmentally based projects, this has often been because of certain staffs that are key instigators of these projects, but now that we have become a 5 star school, we have integrated sustainable practices across the curriculum.

Our interest in becoming a sustainable school was first sparked when we became involved in the ‘sustainable schools trail’ in 2000.  This programme was set up to show case schools on the Mornington Peninsula who were participating in sustainable practices. It was through this project that out Vice Principle Ms Hannah Lewis met with Eric Bottomley from CERES and begun the process of becoming a sustainable school.

For the past two years we have been busy doing waste audits and inventing ways to minimise our waste output.  We have installed switching systems to minimise our power usage.  We achieved a water grant for 25, 000, which has helped in installing water tanks. We have sustainable practices integrated throughout our curriculum. As we have been progressing towards becoming a sustainable school we also begun our ‘Out door Classroom’. This began in 2005, and has become central to our sustainable learning programme. Our ‘Out door Classroom’ is a place in which students have the opportunity to experience hands-on learning in regards to Environmental Awareness and Aesthetics, Biodiversity, Permaculture and Sustainable practices as well as learning traditional subjects in a non traditional setting.

We have received funding from various seeding grants as well as receiving a large grant from ‘School Focussed Youth Service’ which has enabled us employ a coordinator 2 ½ days a week.  John Eldridge was employed by us in 2005, he is an expert on Permaculture and Sustainable practise, and his previous employment in the ‘hands on learning programme’ gave him a great insight into adolescent learning needs.  John’s main role has been to over-see the hands-on side of the out door class room, working with staff and small groups of students to begin and see through projects as well as pass on valuable advice.

We do face the on going challenge of getting all staff to participate, so to help in this process we have created a position with a time allowance to a staff member to become our sustainability coordinator; this allows for time to work with other staff, issue press releases and liaises with other schools. The creation of a position within the school has been very beneficial, as it helps staff gain confidence outside the familiar surroundings of the classroom; it also demonstrates a whole school commitment to sustainable education. It allows for two staff to work with a class of students not just one. We do not want staff to feel that we are creating more work but incorporating sustainable practices into our curriculum. As students move form groups and staff change domain areas, finishing projects and maintaining old projects can become an issue.

We are now one of twenty schools that are committed to becoming a carbon sink school, we are aiming to reduce and absorb our carbon emissions on site, and this will entail educating the whole school and working together to achieve this. We are continuing to build on our outdoor classroom projects, supporting and empowering staff to get out and share new skills. It is through such problems and challenges that we are continuing our learning as a College.

Our out door classroom has improved school connectedness, and one of  the most exciting things for me this year is that we have started our ‘green team’. Although throughout our curriculum we encourage and teach sustainable practises, the proof is often in the day to day actions of the students. So when we put out an open invitation to all students and staff across the whole school to join our ‘green team’ during one lunch time a week. I thought that maybe we would get a few staff and students, and didn’t really expect many staff to come along, but we were inundated with keen students across 4 year levels. We spent our first meeting weeding and fixing up our garden from the holidays; we have a list of ideas for following weeks. For some of the students it has sparked a real awareness for our environment, and is giving them an ownership of their school environment. I am hoping that ‘green teams’ will spring up in all schools and we can in time all meet and share our ideas, and skills.

Savings achieved:

•          Since 2004 WesternPort SC have reduced energy consumption by 26% and gas by 76%!

•          Subsequently WesternPort SC have reduced CO2 emissions by 43% or 285 Tonnes/ year!

•          This reduction has been achieved through retrofitting and behavioural change:

–         Old boiler replaced with single room gas heaters

–         Lighting Control System-auto-off at recess, lunch etc

–         Shut down procedure for computers etc

–         Delamping, motion sensors, urn timers

It  has been and will continue to be a wonderful journey, and we have indeed been rewarded, but the best of all, is that the whole school community, staff, students, parents and friends have worked together to achieve this accreditation.
With comments from staff and students like,
“This is great!”
“When can we work in the ‘Our door classroom’ again?”
“I love this!”

Then we know we are on the right track.

Projects that are up and running in our Outdoor Classroom.

More info.

For more information please contact Jean Sheridan on (03) 5979 1577, email sheridan.jean.j@edumail.vic.gov.au.

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