Community Partnership Links
Community partnerships enrich a school's program bringing valuable resources, expertise and support; and link the school program to other community initiatives. Community partnerships enable students to engage with their communities and lead the development of communication skills. Without community partnerships, a school will operate in a vacuum and the effort will be isolated.
The families of students at your schools and many others in the local and even broader community may be very interested in the Sustainable Schools program in your school. You could make available information such as:
- Results of your research e.g. current costs of water use, energy use and waste disposal, current greenhouse gas emissions
- Results of resource changes and savings. As you monitor the use of the resource you are targeting, report back to parents any changes e.g. we have reduced x to save $xx
- Simple tips for for parents to introduce sustainable practices at home e.g. recycling, composting, cutting energy and water use, planting indigenous plants.
- Descriptions of some of the activities the students are doing.
Resource Links
- Giving feedback to the community on successes and progress.
- Newsletters, speech nights, media releases, submitting a case study, for example
A sample of the type of item you might include in your newsletter:
This program will help us to run our school in a more sustainable way and allow the children to learn about sustainability and how to live in a way that will leave a lighter footprint on the planet. We have learnt that our school was spending $xx on energy, $xx on water and $xx on rubbish disposal. We have developed a vision and a four year plan for our school that we hope will save our school money, engage our students in some practical activities and help the environment.
Examples of a statement for inclusion in environmental policies which commit the school to building community links
Our school will communicate our vision and achievements in the Sustainable Schools program to the local and broader community. This will help educate the community to live more sustainably
|
|
Williamstown High School students enjoy studying horticulture with the manager of the onsite Indigenous Nursery
Students build and decorate possum boxes to sell to family, friends and members of the local community.
Click to View Video – Community Revegetation Project.
Nick describes how the secondary students assist local primary students in a marine national park revegetation project.
Click to View Video – Partnering with the local Indigenous Nursery.
Williamstown High School's Community Nursery and involvement of students in planting along the foreshore
|
Printer friendly version
Email to a friend
Send feedback
Contact us (email)
The Victorian Sustainable Schools pilot was developed and delivered by Gould League and CERES Community Environment Park with major funding support from the Federal Department of Environment and Heritage and additional funding provided by the Victorian Government and Philanthopric Trusts.