Sustainability

CPS has continued to be recognised as a leading sustainability school both within our state and nationally. Winning the 2018 State Landcare award allowed us to be a finalist in the National Awards in 2021, where we were titled ‘National Junior Landcare Runner Up’. A strong representation of sustainability can be seen throughout the school. We have 32 studentPleaes Environmental officers that meet weekly, a teacher committee that involves 8 teachers and a parent committee that has 6 committed parents.

A memorable moment in 2021 was when several year 1 and 2 students were part of an environmental segment on Channel 10 “The Project” with Rove McManus. They certainly showed us their great understanding of all things environmental! The publicity continued in 2021 when CPS was part of an energy reduction sustainability announcement on ‘A Current Affair.’ Once again, our students showcased their deep knowledge of sustainable practices within our school. Our student environmental officers were in the spotlight in December 2021, delivering their ideas and projects to a community audience including local and federal politicians at a Sustainability Conference held at Newman College. Once again, we were very proud of the student’s delivery and knowledge of best sustainable practices.

All students at CPS are taught sustainable practices and students put their learning into practise by participating in a Waste-Free lunch every Tuesday. We encourage students to shred their paper lunch bags (shredded paper gets fed to the worm farms) and students are taught to use the correct bin systems around the school to recycle food scraps (for compost and the chickens) and Containers for Change items are separated and collected. Battery and paper recycling is promoted to students.  We annually collect all unused stationery and items such as pens, textas and pencils, which are then donated to a local charity called ‘Give Write’. We recycle our ink cartridges from the school printers and encourage all photocopying to be double-sided. Our school canteen has been working towards using recyclable packaging and in 2020 the committee worked with students and introduced using bamboo forks which are composted at school.

Embedding the above sustainable practises into our school lives has resulted in CPS achieving the 3-year target of reducing our school waste to landfills by 30%. In 2022 we were again accredited with being a Waste Wise School.

Since 2018, CPS has partnered with Stirling Council and participated in their Living Green Schools program. We have adopted recommended areas near and within our school grounds that have required beautification. Our Stirling partnership has been recognised by the council with Mayor Mark Irwin and Councillor Steph Proud visiting our school and publicly thanking us for our efforts in native tree planting within the Stirling Council. In 2021 we were awarded a $4000 grant from the council to build a new frog habitat within our school grounds. The frog habitat is an ongoing whole school project, linked to the biological strand in science. Each class has provided knowledge related to frogs that will be placed on QR codes around the habitat in 2022.  Our P and C have supported the frog habitat with funding and attendance at the frog habitat busy bees. Our community partnerships in sustainability have extended to the Rotary Clubs of Cambridge and Subiaco. These clubs provide assistance in the school vegetable garden and also provide funding and support for environmental officers to participate in an annual tree-planting camp, where 10000 trees are planted on salt-affected farmland in Quairading. In 2021, the Rotary Club of Cambridge donated a magnificent ‘Peace Pole’ for our school grounds. This provides an important reminder of how important world peace is. Support from the local community ‘Men’s Shed’ has assisted in building seating for the frog habitat.

CPS works closely with Herdsman Wildlife Centre and use this excellent resource for whole school excursions and the centre has proven to be a valuable resource in assisting with the design and building of the frog habitat.

During 2022 an upgrade of the 9R shed will involve new signage, a new name and new infrastructure. This project will be another opportunity for students, parents and teachers to work collaboratively in the design and delivery of a revamped sustainability area at CPS that everyone can enjoy.

Year 5 students continue to be provided with leadership opportunities by volunteering to be part of the school Environmental team. 32 students in 2022 oversee the day to day running of the sustainability program and are leaders in educating other students. A major sustainability project in year 5 is Solar Buddy. Students organise a whole school fundraiser to buy solar lights for third world students. The lights come in kit form so students build the lights and send these along with a letter to their solar buddy in a designated third world school. This program helps reduce energy poverty and provides empowerment to students by giving them a real opportunity to make a difference in the world.

In 2022 CPS applied for a $4000 energy reduction grant If successful the grant money will assist in educating students on ways, we can all work together to reduce our school energy bills.

Parent assistance is always welcome in the school sustainability program. There are always opportunities to feed the chickens on the weekends and during the holidays or work in the vegetable gardens, write grants or help out at busy bees.  Please contact Mrs Samsa in room 5 or by email. S.samsa@education.wa.edu.au if you would like to be part of our sustainability program.

Mrs Samsa

Sustainability leader