The sustainability program is continuing in the school under the direction of CERES as part of the ResourceSmart Schools Program.

As part of the program, details, including costs, of electricity, gas, water, paper usage and waste disposal volumes have been collected and updated regularly online since 2008. These details are evaluated, with a view to reducing usage in all these areas.

In 2017, we have been working on the Water module. This has given us the opportunity to review our current water saving practices and look at ways that we can further reduce our mains water consumption.

Earlier this year, we held a working bee to clean up and rejuvenate the frog bog area that was in need of some attention.

Our 3 sustainability captains conducted an audit of the water infrastructure at the school. This involved checking there were no leaking taps or toilets and identifying areas for improvement. Following the audit, the captains have made additional signs to encourage water saving for the sinks in the classrooms.

The captains then analysed the school’s water usage by looking at the graphs on the ResourceSmart Schools website. We are below the benchmark of 4Kl per student per year. This is in part due to the investment the school has made in previous years to install water tanks for all garden watering and toilet flushing.

In the past couple of years, there have been a number of spikes in water usage over summer. These may be caused by leaks or by the irrigation system being left on and using mains water after the tanks have run dry.

We are signing up to SWEP (Schools Water Efficiency Program) which will help us to monitor the school’s water usage more closely and send us an alert if there are any leaks.

The school has previously achieved certification in Energy, Waste and Biodiversity, but these now require updating.