The school making science sustainable with ResourceSmart Schools

Poowong Consolidated Primary School became a ResourceSmart School at the beginning of 2023, and Science Teacher and Sustainability Lead Lauren Dobie can’t believe she didn’t join sooner. 'It's a really good program. I love the way it's structured,' she says. Since joining the program, this small school of just 115 students has saved $29,328*.

Lauren says that because she can pick and choose which activities are relevant to her science teaching, she makes the program and its resources work for her, without the pressure of completing modules. 'Instead of rushing through something like the worm farms, it spreads over multiple parts of the waste module. The learning is deeper, across year levels and Green Team,' she says.

Poowong is just starting on its sustainability journey – it’s in what Lauren calls their 'eye-opening stage'. Since starting to use the program in her classroom she has noticed the children questioning more, and paying more attention to things like waste, nature and the school grounds. 'We started working on biodiversity and waste partly because they were easy connections for students to make at this school with our space and resources,' says Lauren.

Bringing science to life has always been what Lauren loves about teaching, and she is using RSS to make sustainability and science an everyday part of school life, too.

'Currently the grade 4s are doing a landfill experiment. We are talking about how a lettuce head can take 25 to 30 years to decompose in landfill, and why that is, compared to composting a head of lettuce. The students did not believe it and were surprised when their results were matching with the information we found. That has been blowing their minds,' says Lauren.

Getting students outdoors increases their wellbeing

Lauren says the children love being outside as part of the RSS program and get a great sense of pride from gardening and improving the school grounds themselves. 'The students are really into Garden Club and seeing their sustainability projects come to life,' she exclaims.

'I am proud of us getting compost bins happening – about 100 kilos of our food waste has been put in compost instead of the bins, and it's already started to decompose down, which we love to see.'

She has seen students take particular interest in the biodiversity module with the creation of a Garden Club. 'Garden Club is very passionate. Kids enjoy it. They anticipate it, they love it. We're doing so much out there all the time.'

Lauren and her students have planted native herbs, which they then cook with. 'We’ve been taking more care of the gardens. It's been mulched and we've planted green manure crops to build some soil health. Our veggie gardens are thriving – we've got potatoes that are about to be pulled out to do a hot lunch.'

The RSS facilitator can help tailor the program

The school’s RSS facilitator has helped Lauren tailor the program to meet the school’s resources, interests, capacity and strategic priorities. 'She makes ResourceSmart Schools part of what we're doing instead of just being this thing we’re ticking off. It's more like a journey,' says Lauren.

RSS Facilitator Tammy Logan said that it was obvious how passionate Lauren was about sustainability from their first meeting, but Tammy cautioned her to implement changes slowly.

'I wanted to make sure that Lauren didn’t burn out early as a result of being so motivated,' said Tammy. 'I highlighted that the program is self-paced and different for every school, and that all wins, no matter how small, should be celebrated.'

Lauren appreciates that she can email or call Tammy for advice to make sure she’s on the right track.

'I really appreciate that side. It takes pressure off me having to do everything. It's made the program very usable.'

To get started, Tammy visited the school to understand the current situation, the challenges experienced, and to hear Lauren’s ideas.

'I was able to make suggestions to help Lauren build on her sustainability ideas and understand how various initiatives can be used for progression through the RSS framework. We discussed using RSS Online as a record keeping tool, a place to make updates as required which also helps to demonstrate how embedded sustainability is at the school.'

Community and parent support for the RSS program creates support

One of the school’s first actions as part of the core module was setting up a Green Team and a Parent Sustainability Team. Forming groups is one of Lauren’s top tips for making the RSS program work for teachers.

'As soon as we started those teams, it changed everything. The support from parents and students was huge and meant projects could be done without relying on one person.'

Lauren says the groups have resulted in engagement from students and parents that keeps the school’s participation in RSS naturally ticking along, which takes some of the pressure off her.

'You know they want to be part of it, and as a teacher you can't do everything yourself.'

Lauren says the way the school has used the RSS program has created a passionate sustainability community inside and outside of the school. At the school’s recent Harvest Festival – which Lauren was inspired to hold as part of the RSS waste module – students, parents and volunteers from the local Country Women’s Association spent a day cooking donated food and produce from the school’s garden.

'Students didn’t understand how big of a problem food waste is. So that became an idea to have a massive baking day where we turn our harvest into something we can give to other people that need it,' says Lauren.

'In the end we made use of 150 kilos of produce. It either got processed into something and sold, or we sold it as fresh produce. The school also raised $359 for its Green Team.

'The students loved it. The feedback from everyone was so positive. Parents really loved the connection that they got to the school,' says Lauren. 'At the minute, we're really riding on a high of sustainability around here.'

'I don't think we would have done half the things we have done if it weren’t for ResourceSmart Schools.'