Yrs K-12 Environmental Education

School Environmental Management Plan (SEMP) 2001-2005

Kemblawarra Primary School

Written by David Lamb Edited by Heather Argeraki

Mission Statement

The people in our school and community are committed to the development of a better environment for everyone. Through ongoing programs that develop cleaner and more sustainable ways of doing everyday activities we hope to make our space on this Earth a more pleasant place to live, work and play. Students, staff, parents and the broader community will work together in a spirit of mutual acceptance and understanding towards the commonly set goals of cleaner and more efficient use of water, air, land, waste and energy. Not only for the people of today but for everyone tomorrow.

Rationale

Through the development of a SEMP students will:

develop a greater understanding of the impact of people on the environment
gain a greater appreciation and understanding of the principles of sustainable development
use their knowledge of environmental management practices to apply strategies within the school environment and local community
be able to identify the areas of the school environment that they can manage more effectively
acquire knowledge and skills to manage these key elements of the school environment
design and implement ways of monitoring, evaluating, reviewing and reporting the SEMP
try to encourage stakeholders to improve their environmental performance and gain an understanding of their place in the whole community
develop an understanding of the benefits of communicating our performance with our environmental work to the community
make a lifetime commitment to environmental management practices at both the individual and community level.

Principles	Definition
Accept responsibility for all actions	Those involved in the educational domain of the school and those that are stakeholders, follow the practices that help reduce/recycle and avoid any impact on the local environment.
Strengthen our relationship with the community	Ask and listen to the community about its concerns or ideas relative to the school environment and the surrounding Coomaditchie Reserve then acting upon that advice.
Value the input of all groups in the local area. Land Care	Seek the needs wants and opinions of the staff, students, parents, community members, local community groups such as the Coomaditchie Aboriginal Coop, (Revive Our Wetlands Group), Local Business (i.e. Bunnings, Westfield, McDonalds etc), Rotary, Wollongong Council, Mt Kembla Field Studies Centre, BHP - Bilington and cultural groups.
Integrating environmental management where possible, into all aspects of the school environment	Making sure that all decisions made by the school, students and community include the consideration of the impact on the environment before during and after any initiatives are undertaken.
Minimising the environmental impact	Identifying potential risks, problems and solutions before they arise, constantly reviewing plans if necessary, being cautious.
Encouraging responsible use of paper, school materials & products used in the school by the staff, students	Adopt methods that enhance, support and reward a culture of waster reduction, recycling, safe depositing of avoidable waste, proactive waste reduction such as a reusable drink bottle, the reduction of plastic wrappers, using both sides of paper in class, reducing the use of photocopier paper, monitoring & reviewing the schools energy consumption, redirecting bubble water to the gardens and not as waste.
Continually improving our environmental performance	Reviews and monitor the environmental management plan & adopt new & better ways of doing things. Constantly seek the support and opinion, beliefs, needs and wants of stakeholders in the School and Reserve community.
Communicating our environmental performance	Reporting openly to the community on environmental progress & in doing so allowing others the opportunity to judge the overall environmental performance.

Issues

The following are issues that we have identified in our school. Although they are linked they are listed under five main areas:

Air - that is clean and enhances a quiet surrounding
Water - its quality and the quantity us
Land - the impact on the soil, plants & animals of our action
Energy - to use less and be more efficient whilst using cleaner types
Waste - to reduce (avoid), recycle or re-use

We have indicated a time frame when each issue will be addressed.

Issues: AIR	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Students and staff car pool where possible when traveling to & from school Students and staff utilize public transport, walk, cycle or scooter when traveling to and from school instead of the family car Our mowers and machinery is regularly serviced to keep emissions clean Keep the unnecessary dust created by dry patches in the playground to a minimum and attempt to rehabilitate them Don't burn off waste Use a rake rather than a motorised leaf blower Utilise hand tools instead of power tools Fit classrooms with furnishings that absorb noise Attempt to reduce the noise from traffic by designing gardens at the perimeters that absorb the noise and also provide a visual barrier to the busy street Erect please drive quietly signs on Shellharbour Rd to remind many of the industrial trucks to be mindful with their air brakes

Issues: WATER	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Divert the water from the bubblers exit pipe to a tank (for future use) or directly onto the gardens Place a brick into each cistern to reduce water usage Develop a water conscious culture that aims to minimize our water consumption by adopting water wise methods. These may include: placing a plastic tub into the sink when washing & after painting making sure that toilets are serviced regularly so that faulty ones don't stay on and waste water making sure that bubblers are serviced regularly so that faulty ones don't stay on and waste water making sure that taps are turned off in the pre-school and the toilets Clean up our rubbish so that it doesn't get washed down the drains and into the waterways Making sure rubbish doesn't get washed down the sinks in our rooms, staff room, toilets and bubblers Making sure that chemicals, paints or oils get washed down the drain Our school utilizes organic/ biodegradable fertilizers and pesticides Identify and stop any dripping taps The plants that we utilize in our school environment require minimal watering (Such as natives) The school collects its rainwater with a rainwater tank to be used on the gardens School sprinklers are used at dawn (for maximum absorption by plants) or sunset & for a sensible length of time School showers are fitted with water saving heads Brooms rather than hoses are used to clean paths The garden beds are mulched to retain water in the soil

Issues: ENERGY	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Less Use Turn off heaters/ coolers when they're not really needed Our school places stickers near lights and fans as reminders to turn them off Our class wears appropriate clothing depending on the weather We turn off the lights when not in the class room We switch off the computers or preset them to low energy modes when they're not being used The school's hot water system is set at a moderate temperature or the hot water system is connected to a solar generator Our school has an alternative energy source (i.e. solar panels) Cleaner and more efficient use The school buildings have skylights for natural heating / lighting The school buildings are properly insulated Deciduous trees are planted to provide shade in summer to school buidings. If that is not appropriate then the installation of awnings or blinds in invested The structure of school buildings & the placement of windows is investigated to capitalize on the winter sun for rooms facing north, this may necessitate the installation of windows We have carpet / rugs for warmth The school's electrical appliances are 5 star rated for efficiency We constantly monitor the school's energy efficiency

Issues: LAND	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Soil Ensure that there are adequate pathways through gardens to prevent erosion That non or limited land use areas are vegetated with appropriate natives to help prevent the infiltration of weeds and to encourage the growth of local natives The soil is monitored and kept in good quality to support healthy plant life. If needs be it will be given appropriate fertilizers. We use soil from a school composter on our gardens We don't tip oil, paint or other chemicals onto the gardens and grass and we encourage the appropriate use and disposal of any of these products Plants As a school we regularly get rid of weeds / exotic plants as these compete with natural species There is sufficient vegetation to provide shade, windbreaks and noise barriers We encourage and promote the growth and development of native species and construct garden areas We attempt to source community groups, council and environmental agencies that can provide support and advice with the gardens, garden layout, growth and development of local native species We gather seeds from the local wetland species and attempt to germinate them for use in our gardens and the gardens of businesses, homes and at the reserve Maintain the plants in a healthy and attractive manner Animals The school has native plants and environment that provide shelter and food for lizards, birds and other native animals We actively discourage dogs and cats in the school particularly around newly planted areas We are mindful of the impact of introduced species (Myna bird) & discourage them in our school environment

Issues: WASTE	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Reduce (Avoid) In our classes attempt to make sure our food is not over-packaged with plastic The canteen attempts to stock items with minimal wrapping Our classes try not to use too much paper The teachers, parents groups and canteen attempt to use ceramic mugs instead of disposable plastic cups We place enough bins around the school to cope with non recyclable or reusable rubbish and place those in a large container bin emptied weekly. (This will be monitored to measure the impact of our actions) Re-use Try to bring our lunch (food and drink) in reusable containers We reuse the backs of faxes in our photocopiers, computer printers and for art work Plastic bags are reused wherever possible and we wash and re-use reseal able plastic bags in our lunch boxes That we use both sides of paper sheets We make a composter for the collection of our food scraps and ultimate use on our gardens and place our food scraps into bins to be used in the composter and eventually a worm farm We reuse empty household items (i.e. egg cartons etc) for our art and craft Recycle The school buys items made from recycled paper We sort our litter by placing paper, glass, plastic, tin, bottles, and cardboard into specially marked bins that are collected by the council both in the playground and in the classroom We contact a local collection agency (Flagstaff) to collect our crushed cardboard Our school has a second hand uniform and clothing pool

Issues: AIR 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

At Kemblawarra Primary School we have a five year plan. This involves concentrating on an environmental theme each year whilst concurrently undertaking larger projects.

The themes are not mutually exclusive but as each theme involves a large change in current practices these actions will not exist only for that year but will build upon each other, enhancing and complimenting the work that has gone previously.

The anticipated sequence is as follows:

2001 Waste: awareness raising - setting up a management plan for all waste
2002 Energy: becoming more efficient and cleaner
2003 Land: further developing garden beds & seed germination procedures
2004 Water: reducing the quality, analyzing the quality, monitoring the usage
2005 Air: aiming at cleaner and quieter surroundings

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Yrs K-12 Environmental Education

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School Environmental Management Plan (SEMP) 2001-2005