Sustainability at viewbank primary school

Viewbank Primary School’s motto is Love of Learning, Learning for Life. Our sustainability vision is for our students and school community to adopt lifelong sustainable practices. In doing so, our aim is to reduce our school’s ecological footprint to encourage biodiversity, minimise waste and reduce energy and water consumption.

Links to school values:

Respect: For the environment; for ourselves and each other.
Doing Our Best: We all need to have ownership of our school’s sustainable practices.
Responsibility: For our school’s ecological footprint.
Honesty & Trustworthiness: To make responsible choices, doing the right thing.

We will create a better world for all species on Earth and future generations by developing a culture of sustainability in our school and the surrounding community.

Viewbank Primary School is lucky enough to be taking part in the Victorian Government ResourceSmart Schools initiative. ResourceSmart AuSSI (Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative) Victoria helps schools benefit from embedding sustainability in everything they do. The aim is to reduce costs while giving students the opportunity to learn about sustainability in a tangible and realistic environment.

Viewbank Primary School is going to take action to minimise waste, save energy and water, promote biodiversity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As we achieve each module we will gain a star certification. Our aim is to become a 5 star school. This is a long term goal and one which we will be working towards for the next 5+ years.

The 5 ResourceSmart AuSSI Vic modules are:

  • Core Module

  • Waste Module

  • Energy Module

  • Biodiversity Module

  • Water Module

In 2017 & 2018 Viewbank Primary worked on achieving its first star by completing the core module. The aim of the Core Module is to evaluate where we are, where we want to get to, and how we will get there.

In 2019, Viewbank Primary is working towards achieving our Waste Module whereby we will implement a planned approach to waste management to maximise reuse of materials and minimise waste sent to landfill.

If you’d like any more information on the ResourceSmart initiative please click the link below.

http://www.resourcesmartschools.vic.gov.au/

RUBBISH FREE LUNCHES

Wednesday is Rubbish Free Lunch day at Viewbank PS, and students are asked to bring their lunch without wrappers. At each Monday assembly the grade with the most number of students who were rubbish free will be announced. Where possible, Viewbank PS encourages students to bring ‘Nude Food’ in their lunchboxes on all other days too.