ResourceSmart School
Our Commitment to Sustainability
At Armstrong Creek School, we strive to inspire our whole school community to connect with the environment and make a positive contribution to sustainability at school, home and beyond.
Armstrong Creek School aims to reduce our schools footprint through adopting sustainable practices in our everyday operations.
We will achieve this by continuing to integrate sustainability into all areas of the curriculum and instilling a sense of ownership and pride in improving the school environment.
We will lead the community by demonstrating exemplary practices in waste management, ater and energy usage, and continue to develop the school grounds to improve biodiversity.
We are in partnership with CERES to complete the ResourceSmart Schools program.
ResourceSmart Schools
ResourceSmart Schools is an award-winning Victorian Government program that assists schools to embed sustainability in everything they do. Schools minimise waste, save energy and water, promote biodiversity and take action on climate change to benefit their school and community.
Managed by Sustainability Victoria, ResourceSmart Schools provides practical support to reduce resource use and make cost savings, integrate sustainability into the curriculum and share learnings beyond the school gate.
Key features of ResourceSmart Schools:
Recognition
ACS can receive Sustainability Certification and can enter the ResourceSmart Schools Awards to be recognised and rewarded for school activities and achievements.
Facilitation and support
ACS has access to sustainability experts who support schools on their journey to embed sustainability into operations and provide support on how to measure and track our school progress.
Savings
ACS is learning to operate more sustainably; reducing costs to save on electricity, water and waste bills – and greenhouse gas emissions to minimise their impact on the environment.
Flexibility
ACS is working through the ResourceSmart Schools program to create a unique environmental management system tailored to our needs.
Curriculum
ACS is being assisted to embed sustainability into all learning areas and levels of the Victorian Curriculum.
He or she understands exactly what has write my essay to be composed, and the way it needs to be written.
Our Journey to Sustainability
ACS has just completed our first star towards becoming a 5 star school. The core module was completed early this year and we are currently completing our waste module as part of our ResourceSmart Schools initiative. Having opened our doors as a brand new school in 2019 being able to start everything from scratch has meant we have been able to setup some fantastic sustainable protocols from day one. In our efforts to become a rubbish free school we have changed the way eating time is arranged. All children go out to play first and then return at the end of play to eat in class. We strongly encourage all families to provide nude food for their children, we understand that this is not always possible for 100% of their lunch. This year we are celebrating nude food month and will be hosting a school nude food challenge week in October.
Our students are encouraged to eat and dispose of any packaging while inside, where they have access to 4 bins:
Educating our children about how to use these bins has been a big part in our strategy to become successful. Our sustainability garden has been set up to help teach children about the four areas of sustainability. It contains 10 vegetable gardens filled with heirloom variety fruits, vegetables & herbs, worm farms (we collect their waste to fertilise our gardens), compost bins, a chicken coop, 6 chickens that we hatched and have raised from birth, and an orchard. The garden has been developed as a collaborative space for children of all to use and help learn about the 4 key areas of sustainability and is maintained by all members of our school community.