NARANGA School in Frankston has been recognised with a Victorian sustainability award for its innovative approach to rubbish.
The school, which caters for students aged 5-18 with a mild intellectual disability, won the secondary section of the ResourceSmart Schools Award for waste.
The school’s senior hands-on program engages students by combining good sustainability practices with literacy and numeracy skills to carry through to adulthood.
As part of designing a new kitchen garden area the students cleared, pruned and relocated plants for the revamp, measured and costed garden materials, worked out an order through Mitre 10 and assisted to collect supplies and develop the garden. Students prepared worm farms, relocated a frog pond, prepared six plots for fruit trees to establish an orchard, and used old soccer balls as planters.
Naranga School has a cache of sustainability and environmental achievements to its name. Last year senior ‘art and kitchen garden’ students won the Diggers Perpetual trophy in the schools category at the Red Hill Spring Garden festival for garden projects using recycled mosaic tiles and terracotta pots.
This year senior horticulture students designed and built new garden bed areas, planted an orchard and established 11 worm farms.
In July, Naranga School won Frankston Council’s sustainability school of the month.
Sustainability Victoria CEO Stan Krpan said the ResourceSmart Schools awards provided schools with an opportunity to showcase their efforts at a statewide level and to learn from each other.
“What’s most impressive is the breadth of programs that students, teachers and their wider communities are involved with,” he said.
“The students are also learning about project planning and delivery, patience and working with other – all important educational objectives.
“These schools have done an exemplary job, and really set the benchmark for others to strive for next year.”