Environmental champions nominated | Midland Express

Four local schools, Castlemaine Steiner School and Kindergarten, Winters Flat Primary School, Chewton Primary School and Newham Primary School, have been nominated as finalists in Sustainability Victoria’s ResourceSmart Schools Awards 2024.

Castlemaine Steiner School and Kindergarten, winner of the 2023 Campus Infrastructure and Operations School of the Year, will compete for the title of ‘Student Action Team of the Year (Primary)’.

After attending last year’s awards, five students launched the school’s Eco Club. The club now has twenty members and runs a number of sustainability projects, including collecting plastic lids for Lids4Kids, building and installing nest boxes on campus, birdwatching using a repurposed birdhouse and the Wetland Project, which promotes stewardship and collecting of wildlife data.

Chewton Primary School, winner of Curriculum Leadership School of the Year (Primary) last year, is a finalist in the ‘ResourceSmart School of the Year’ category.

This three-star school practices a rich commitment to First Nations knowledge and the practice of working with local elders and a local Indigenous organization – Nalderun. The award-winning Reconciliation Action Plan reflects a strong community bond, fueled by conscious student action, while weekly sustainability classes include Connection to Country’s biodiversity workshops.

Winters Flat Primary School, a 2022 winner in the Community Leadership category for its work to raise awareness of the issue of fruit stickers, is this year a finalist in the ‘Campus Infrastructure’ category.

The students of this five-star school and former winner of the ‘ResourceSmart School of the Year’ helped design and build a sensory garden using local and recycled materials, and now manage its maintenance. The garden aligns with the school’s Care for Environment focus, promoting wellbeing and stewardship whilst providing an interactive space for students and the wider community to enjoy.

Newham Primary School has also been nominated in the ‘ResourceSmart School of the Year’ category.

This five-star school is a local hub for sustainability in school operations.

The school organizes meetings of the Teacher Environment Network and has contributed to the Ministry of Education’s policy on sustainability in schools. By joining the Container Deposit Scheme and implementing a smart waste container system, the surrounding community reduced landfill waste.

The school campus features an outdoor learning area with wetlands and biodiversity, providing a rich learning environment for this small school of 53 motivated students.

“These schools are not only making a difference now, but are also leaving a legacy for the next generation through their sustainability efforts,” says Katie Pahlow, Sustainability Victoria.

This year’s award winners will be announced at a ceremony at the MCG on June 4.