SUSTAINABILITY

Croydon Hills Primary (CHPS) started with the ResourceSmart AussiVic Program in 2012 and our school was the first school in Melbourne to achieve 5-star accreditation. In 2022 we reengaged with the RSS program following COVID and have retained 2 stars but we are hoping to achieve further accreditation by the end of the year. We are now a registered ResourceSmart School and part of The Eastern Alliance for Sustainable Learning, RSS is a Victorian Government program that assists schools with their sustainability journey. 

We aim to continue to build upon our strong reputation as a leading environmentally sustainable school - one that provides a vibrant, caring and supportive learning environment, which integrates sustainable initiatives with a sustainable curriculum to motivate all people in our school community to live more sustainably.

The CHPS curriculum has a strong emphasis on Sustainability, which develops students' individual and collective responsibility toward the local environment, and thereby also impacting the wider environment. Learning about Sustainability is a part of VELS and is taught as a cross-curriculum priority through three organising ideas, which are Sustainable Systems, Sustainable World Views and Sustainable Futures.

At CHPS Sustainability is taught in our curriculum through:

• Education about the environment which focuses on key knowledge and understanding of the ecological functioning of the environment.
• Education in the environment which allows students to experience and form a connection with the environment to develop positive attitudes and values toward environmental responsibility.
• Education for the environment which focuses on students taking action for the protection and conservation of the environment. This includes the development of skills to enable students to be active and informed participants in environmental decision-making.

CHPS has implemented a student leadership program where students become Eco Leaders who organise and lead sustainability initiatives within our school as at CHPS we see environmental responsibility to be a significant learning experience. CHPS has spacious school grounds that include a farm area with a chicken coop, vegetable gardens and areas encouraging biodiversity.

We aim to advance in responsible environment management by supporting contemporary initiatives that aim to improve standards in Energy, Water, Waste and Biodiversity. Many of our initiatives focus on looking at the school as a whole and the impact of our Environment and Sustainability programs throughout the curriculum and in the community.

In August 2023 we hosted a RSS Progress Workshop at school where we were able to showcase our sustainability actions to teachers from other ResourceSmart Schools. Our student environment leaders introduced our environment program to the visitors and helped the Sustainability leader show them around the school.

Some of the initiatives include:

• Registered ResourceSmart School and a member of Schools Water Efficiency Program. 
• Data tracking of school utility bills and resource use.
• Recycling and composting bins, sorted to reduce landfill.
• Rubbish Free Lunches 
• Clean Up Australia day and World Tree day 
• Participation in Ride and Walk to School Initiative  
• Supporting the Choose Tap movement 
• Environmentally focused farm area and vegetable gardens with spaces encouraging biodiversity, including a frog bog, butterfly garden and native grassland and chicken run.