Project Green

Free NESA Accredited professional learning Cultivating Classrooms: Integrating Food and Fibre is available for Agriculture, Science and Geography Teachers, offered online and in locations across NSW.

A free online course Sustainability from the Start, designed for early childhood educators has been released by edChild. The course integrates sustainability concepts into teaching and daily life, with eight friends making teaching sustainability fun and easy.

Do you want to know more about your local waterways or need some fun educational activities around the water cycle. Go to WaterNSW educational resources website for more information.

The new Water Conservancy research report provides insights into demographic differences in community understanding about water. Younger Gen Z people are the least likely to have water saving habits and the least likely to be concerned about healthy waterways, saving energy and saving water. Looking to explore water issues with your students, explore these water related teaching resources from the Sustainable Schools NSW website.

Follow the journey of water down the river through the catchment to the sea. Virtual Excursions Australia provides a free online resource explaining how to use the classic story tool The Story of Water to explore water catchments in your classroom.

Explore climate change in your classroom with this range of teaching resources: University of Melbourne Climate SuperPowers encourages students to assess their strengths, assets and ideas for actionable change to address climate issues, UNICEF provides curriculum aligned Stage 1 - 3 teaching resources Climate Change and the Importance of our Environment, NASA Climate Kids provides a simple online kids guide to climate change and NPWS Stage 3 teaching resource Cooling the Schools action learning program explores the 'urban heat island effect' and the effect of climate change on local environments and management of spaces.

For up-to-date information about bushfires, floods and how to keep safe, make sure you have the Hazards Near Me App. The NSW Department of Education has a variety of resources to support families during bushfire season, and Headspace has tips for young people seeking support during natural disasters.

Does your School want a Koala Smart Classroom? 

Looking for FREE lesson plans mapped to the NSW curriculum?  

Plus PowerPoint presentations, worksheets, learning videos, activities and more?  

Koala Smart has you covered. It’s time to connect classrooms to Koala Conservation. With the support of partners, we are currently able to provide all our resources for FREE.   

Become a Koala Smart classroom to gain access to a suite of free curriculum-aligned, class-room ready resources.  Lesson programming is done for you.  

About the program:   

• Six core lesson plans (for stages 2, 3 and 4, aligned to the Australian & NSW syllabus), but can be adapted to suit other stages 

• Resources includes factual information, activity outlines, power point presentations, interviews with experts in the field, worksheets, and a video tour of a Koala Hospital  

• Additional resources available directly to students through the online ‘student area’   

• Connection with relevant expertise to mentor student projects (optional)   

• Individual teachers can register, or the entire school can be involved  

• The program is supported by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment’s Koala Strategy   

• Program able to be adapted to suit teacher and student needs, and does not need to be delivered in order or in full 

Koala Smart schools have the potential to make an impact, enrich your students’ lessons while streamlining and simplifying programming for the year.  

To begin your classrooms koala journey and gain access to the extensive library of classroom ready resources, register at www.koalasmart.org.au. Get in touch for assistance in initiating this program or for general program questions email Koala Smart at info@koalasmart.org.au.

The Turtles in Schools program offers a tailored curriculum for schools, focussing on freshwater turtle conservation and wetland health. Free Stage 3 teaching resources focus on scientific literacy and numeracy while fostering a deep connection between students and their natural environment.

Inspire students to explore biodiversity conservation in their local area, with the Conservation Champions developed by Biodiversity Conservation Trust and Petaurus Education Group. Resources include K-12 teaching materials and education opportunities about geography, living worlds, biodiversity, agriculture, food and fibre and conservation on private land.

A new Stage 5 subject Agricultural Technology Native Bee Production is being released across NSW. Teaching and learning materials explore the ecosystem roles of native bees and commercial opportunities of native honey production and pollination. Developed in partnership between Regional Industry Education Partnerships (RIEP), Rural Learning Exchange and industry partner Bee Innovative, agriculture teachers are invited to submit an EOI here to apply for support from your local RIEP Officers.

Primary Industries Education foundation Australia's (PIEFA) Mighty Mushie resources for Yrs 5 - 10 students include interactive, curriculum-aligned card games, worksheets and accompanying videos clips. Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies (CERES) has created the Plant Buddies learning activity which encourages Yrs 3- 6 students to consider the principles of companion planting for a vegetable garden.

New teaching resources from Planet Ark and Cool.org explore ideas to reduce food waste and increase recycling in the classroom and at a larger scale. Teach your students how to reduce lunchbox waste, create a worm farm for the classroom, how to spot sustainable packaging or learn about the circular economy. 

Has your school or community been impacted by fire and/or floods? Minderoo Foundation work collaboratively with communities to help build resilience projects.

If your School would like to know more about the program and the support provided you can visit minderoo.org.

School’s Environment Day (SED) in February 2024 was a massive success, with Year 5-6 students from Bowral Public, Hilltop Public, Exeter Public and Robertson Public in the environment focused outdoor event.

The weather was perfect, the day was busy, kids were engaged, and smiles were seen all around.

The students gained environmental knowledge across several different areas including natural habitat protection, wildlife identification, what a water catchment is, the importance of protecting our waterways, being more conscious of water usage and making products from sustainable materials such as bees wax.

We find that being in nature doing practical hands-on activities is one of the best ways to enable students to really immerse themselves and learn about sustainability practices.

The date for our next session will be in November. Expressions of interest for this session are now open.

Please email your interest to sustainabilityservices@wsc.nsw.gov.au.

Crawford Fund's 2024 Nourishing Mind Competition for Stage 4 students, invites students to submit a video proposal, outlining their innovative idea or project to address a pressing food and nutrition security issue. Prizes available, submissions due 14 June 2024.

You're invited to a free creative workshop turning waste into art at the amazing Upcycle Centre in Moss Vale.

Make something amazing and be part of the waste solution. Presented by STA and Creative Space Southern Highlands in collaboration with Wingecaribee Council.

Discover how to recognise waste and rubbish that can be upcycled into art materials then learn a variety of techniques and processes to turn your upcycled materials into 3D art to take home and keep.

A range of salvaged materials and tools for use provided.

Wear clothes that can get dirty and covered shoes. 

Enter your creation in the Waste to Art Wollondilly Exhibition and Competition for a chance at the $2600 in prize money on offer. Make something amazing and be part of the solution.

All ages welcome, children to be accompanied.

Check out other Waste to Art options through STA.

Bookings here.

The Wingecarribee Shire Council's Road Safety program runs a number of workshops throughout the year, with regular sessions for log book runs which includes a drive out to Fitzroy Falls and back for lunch, this allows drivers to log more hours and ask our local police officers any questions they may have. The next session is on 16 June at Councils offices, Moss Vale. The initiative is aimed at promoting safe driving practices within the community. These sessions are free and are an important resource for our young drivers.

If you would like to find out more or book head to Councils event page to see all events, or book the upcoming events below:

FREE Learner Log Book Run

FREE Learner Parent/Supervisor Workshop

The Wollondilly Waste 2 Art (WW2A) Prize is an annual art exhibition with a deep commitment to reducing the waste going to landfill by inviting Artists to make art from waste materials. The exhibition is a gallery full of creative treasure made from trash complimented by a program of workshops and events. 

Our focus waste material for 2024 is textile waste and entries may incorporate waste textiles. The world is in a textile waste crisis and the need for creative thinking to help solve the problem is more important than ever. Southern Tablelands Arts (STA) have gathered info, ideas and resources to help you be part of the solution, just keep scrolling.

The average Aussie purchases 27kg of new clothing and textiles every year, and discards 23kg into landfill. This contributes to the 6,000kg of clothing and textile waste being discarded into landfill every 10 minutes, putting Australia as the second largest consumer of textiles per person in the world, after the US.

Creative thinking will make all the difference. We can fix this! 

The Wollondilly Waste to Art Prize 2024 has a total prize pool $2600 provided by Wollondilly Shire Council and Southern Tablelands Arts and is open to entrants from the tablelands region including Wingecarribee Shire, excluding the Wollondilly Community competition category.

• OPEN – (18+) $1700 1st Prize $1,000 / 2nd Prize $400.00 / 3rd Prize $300 Open to STA Region Artists
• Youth (12 -17 YEARS) & (7 – 11 YEARS) $400 4 equal prizes of $100
• WOLLONDILLY COMMUNITY – $500 All entries from Wollondilly artists

A Waste to Art workshop is also being run by the STA at our Upcycle centre in Moss Vale head here to book and find out more.

For more information and to enter head to Wollondilly Waste 2 Art STA page. 

Join us monthly for a cinematic journey as we discover more about our world. Every month Earth Flix, hosted by the Wingecarribee Shire Council, brings you an extraordinary lineup of films that inspire, educate, and ignite action for our planet. Dive into captivating narratives exploring sustainability, conservation, and the beauty of nature. From thought-provoking documentaries to uplifting stories of environmental activism, Earth Flix promises an unforgettable experience for all. Immerse yourself in the power of storytelling to drive positive change. For more information and to book see our project page where all of the films are added:Earth Flix: Cinema 4 Change

Why be plastic free?

Every day, each of us make a choice—we can choose to succumb to the throw-away convenience lifestyle of take-away coffee cups, plastic straws and cutlery, plastic bags and plastic drink bottles, OR, we can choose to take a step back and think consciously about what these ‘convenience’ items really mean for our environment, including our rivers, bushland, parks and wildlife. Those short-term conveniences are actually a very long-term inconvenience for the future of our planet.

Visit here for more event information on Plastic Free July

Funding of up to $1500 is available to NSW primary schools for excursions to farms or agricultural sites through the Kids to Farms Initiative. This program aims to increase engagement between primary schools and NSW agriculture, supporting students to develop an understanding of food and fibre production systems.

An audit of your school's own waste is possible, and a real eye opener for students and teachers alike. If you would like more information on how to get started, please contact our Waste Education Officer at: waste.educatio@wsc.nsw.gov.au. 

Wingecarribee Shire Council is partnering with EnviroMentors in 2024 for a fourth year in a row to provide sustainability incursions.

Topics range from composting, lunches unwrapped, to sustainability and keeping waterways clean.

Recently Mittagong Public School had the EnviroMentors team out who lead a waste audit, they looked at the types of waste and talked with the students about how they could reduce their waste.

The audit revealed a large amount of paper in the bins from lunch orders. A lot of uneaten food and some still in wrappers.

Interestingly there were very little beverage containers, which indicates an excellent uptake of reusable water bottles. Improved waste management could include an alternative to order slips for canteen orders, a compost container in each classroom with an attached educational piece, when uptake has been successful it could extend to the playground and may include bin monitors.

A compost or worm farm would be necessary onsite to deal with the food waste.

If you would like more information take a look at the Public Schools education program by the EnvironMentors or visit the EnviroMentors here or contact: sustainabilityservices@wsc.nsw.gov.au.   

Council’s Environmental Officers would relish the opportunity to share our knowledge with your students to hopefully inspire them to live more sustainably and care for nature.

If your classroom is looking for a bit more information on climate change, biodiversity, the water cycle, waste education or other topics please reach out to us via email listed below to talk about how we might be able to help. 

Alternatively, if your school is interested in tours of Council facilities, please contact us via email to find out more information and to organise a date: sustainabilityservices@wsc.nsw.gov.au.

OzHarvest created FEAST (Food Education and Sustainability Training) from the belief that educating children about healthy eating and food waste prevention is crucial to enable positive change. FEAST is a Year 5 and 6 education program that runs for 10 weeks and addresses STEM, English, Health and Physical Education and Sustainability curriculum outcomes. FEAST teaches students about food waste, sustainability and nutrition using hands-on cooking activities in the classroom (no kitchen required).

FEAST education program includes:

• Curriculum-aligned resources
• Kitchen kit and electric fry pans to make cooking in the classroom accessible
• 20 hot and cold recipes
• Teacher training
• Ongoing support from the OzHarvest FEAST team

Throughout the program, students are tasked with exploring and designing their own recipes for their “School Cookbook”, while addressing food waste prevention, healthy eating and inspiring the local community!

More than 500 schools have already delivered the program nationally, inspiring nearly 25000 students and trained 800+ teachers. Don’t let this opportunity go to waste.

Register your school here.

Email feast@ozharvest.org for more information!

Please note that funding is available for eligible primary schools to sign up to the program at no cost. To know if your school is eligible, please fill out the registration form on the FEAST website. 

Wingecarribee Water Treatment Plant will be opening the doors on a monthly basis for local schools!

Do your students understand the process water goes through, from a drop of rain to the glass of water you hold in your hands? Wingecarribee Water Treatment Plant services 90% of the Wingecarribee Shire’s water supply and our tours explain the treatment process starting at the raw water source, through the stages of treatment and what happens when it leaves the plant and enters the water supply network to your household tap.

Please note, the Water Treatment Plant is a functioning site, because of this, safety requirements exist, tours are open only to high school ages and above. Tour dates are limited, please email your request to our Water Services Team at: watersewer.requests@wsc.nsw.gov.au.