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CATHOLIC EDUCATION DIOCESE OF WOLLONGONG

Preamble

Pope Francis has challenged Catholics world-wide to take seriously their responsibility to

care for our common home. In the ground-breaking document, Laudato Si’, Pope Francis

presents a theology that beautifully invites us all to reflect upon all of creation and our

place in it, what it means to be spiritual human beings in the 21st Century and the

responsibilities we have to care for the world and all who share it with us.

As people who work in Catholic Education we are called to consider what practical

responses we need to make to move forward in our journey of ecological conversion

across the system of schools in the Diocese of Wollongong.

Our schools have taken up these challenges and considerations from Laudato Si’ and

responded in a myriad of ways. This publication is a celebration of some of the wonderful

environmental initiatives and practices that have occurred across our school system

during 2016. It is by no means exhaustive but it does provide information about the

positive, practical and sustainable actions undertaken by various school communities that

have contributed to enhancing our environment and caring for our common home.

As we move into 2017 and beyond, may the foundational work begun in 2016 be an

encouragement to continue to walk gently upon the earth with love and concern for each

other.

Special thanks and acknowledgment to the WEN Contacts in each school who have

contributed to this work and to each school community who has responded to the

environmental call to action.

Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong

Celebrates Caring for Our Common Home

Beth Riolo - Education Officer (Special Projects)

Strategic Planning and Policy – Office of the Director

Published February 2017

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Contents Page

St Paul’s Catholic Primary School, Albion Park 4

Holy Spirit College, Bellambi 6

St Columbkille’s Catholic Primary School, Corrimal 7

St John's Catholic Primary School, Dapto 8

Mary Immaculate Catholic Primary School, Eagle Vale 10

Good Samaritan Catholic Primary School, Fairy Meadow 10

St Brigid’s Catholic Primary School, Gwynneville 11

Holy Cross Catholic Primary School, Helensburgh 12

St Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School, Milton 14

St Paul’s International College, Moss Vale 14

St Paul’s Catholic Primary School, Moss Vale 15

St Clare’s Catholic Primary School, Narellan Vale 16

Magadalene Catholic High School, Narellan 17

St Michael’s Catholic Primary School, Nowra 18

St John the Evangelist Catholic High School, Nowra 19

Corpus Christi Catholic High School, Oak Flats 20

St Benedict’s Catholic College, Oran Park 20

St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School, Port Kembla 21

John Therry Catholic High School, Rosemeadow 22

Nazareth Catholic Primary School, Shellharbour City 23

Stella Maris Catholic Primary School, Shellharbour 24

St Pius X Catholic Primary School, Unanderra 25

Mount Carmel Catholic College, Varroville 27

St Therese Catholic Primary School, West Wollongong 29

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At St Paul’s Catholic Primary School, Albion Park, we have cared

for our Common Home through the following:

Staff PD on Mission and Ecology, with a focus on what it is

we are already doing here at St Paul’s and what it is we can

achieve in the coming months/years. At our Staff PD

sessions, we encourage staff to bring their own coffee cup

instead of using ones that produce waste.

Staff PD on Laudato Si’ - through our SICS Stage Meetings

with Beth Riolo. A focus was placed on unpacking the

document and discussing what this document means for us

at a home and school level.

Engaging in class gardens - each grade has been allocated a garden space within the

school. They have the opportunity and responsibility to look after this garden and can

plant any vegetation they choose. Some grades have chosen to plant produce and

provide the harvested fruits and vegetables to the canteen and staff members.

Gardens are judged by Mrs Colleen Easton and the garden of the month is awarded

the opportunity to display their “Class Gnome” in their garden.

Gardening club - Students tend to the gardens of the school, using compost, mulch

and other products to help. Parents often

come into the school to help with the

gardening club.

Recycling, Compost and General Waste -

Each classroom has three bins (Green, Yellow

and Red). These bins are used for compost,

recycling and general waste. Each playground

also has the three bins available for students

to use during their breaks.

Compost - Students from Year 5 have been

given the responsibility to empty the compost

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bins each day into our three compost bays each day. They turn the compost regularly

and distribute this when it is ready to the various gardens.

Waste Free Warriors - Students at St Paul’s are highly encouraged to bring in waste

free lunches. They are encouraged by our Year 5 team of Waste Free Warriors, who

dress up as Superheroes and lead the school in a “waste free chant”. When a student

brings a waste free lunch they receive a raffle ticket, which is drawn each week by our

Waste Free Warriors and students win prizes such as drink bottles, pencils, colouring

books, mini bins, etc.

Staff Spirituality Day 2016 - This year our staff were engaged with Beth Riolo and Pat

O’Gorman, looking into the theme "Who Is My Neighbour? Called to Ecological

Conversion".

We look forward to providing and engaging in many more initiatives involving caring for

our home in the near future.

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At Holy Spirit College, Bellambi, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Addressing the pollution and climate change issue at a local level through engaging in professional dialogue with staff to respond to environmental litter and implementing innovative ideas to hold students accountable for their playground areas.

Integration of the Water Crisis issue across our world into the Stage 4 Geography Program. The Social Justice team held a number of associated fundraising events for this, including fundraising for Caritas.

Working towards reducing biodiversity loss by implementing temporary playground exclusion zones for the protection of native bird species habitats around the College.

A strong Pastoral Care and Social Justice Program is ongoing to work towards overcoming the decline in the quality of human life and the breakdown of society. This included: We Stand, Peer Support, Cybershorts, Goodfellas, Presentations by Paul Dillon and use of Headspace services.

The strong Social Justice Program worked towards highlighting and fundraising for the issue of Global Inequality through the St Vincent De Paul Winter Appeal and Soup Day, Catholic Mission fundraising, Refugee Week and World Refugee Day, Senior School Blood Bank program and many more events to raise awareness and take action for our Common Home.

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At St Columbkille’s Catholic Primary School, Corrimal, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Trash Free Tuesday – no packaged food only containers.

“The Patch” – garden club for Years 3 & 4 where foods are grown and sold/used by families and the community.

Recycling bins – to help out the local council and environment.

Clean Up Australia Day – annual event celebrated in March.

On a larger scale environmentally friendly initiatives include: o Underground water tanks (water harvesting and sprinkling system) o Solar panels – 8-12 panels where the school receives a rebate off electricity bills. o A device/app is also used to find out how much electricity is being generated o Some LED lighting throughout classrooms and resource areas

In the classroom a renewed focus has been on units of work associated with Environmental Stewardship and Creation. In particular we have celebrated World Environment Day in June and the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on 1st September.

In 2017 we will continue to focus on Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si’: On Care of Our Common Home” with a staff spirituality day in July focusing on the theme: "Who is My Neighbour? Called to Ecological Conversion.

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At St John's Catholic Primary School, Dapto, we have cared for our Common Home through the following: Setting up a composting system on both campus’ (680

students- dual campus) with students from years 3, 4, 5 and 6 collecting our “munch and crunch” food scraps each morning and adding them to the compost bin. The students also water, turn, add straw and help to make the compost as healthy as possible.

Starting our own vegetable garden which includes tomatoes, lettuce, cauliflower, herbs and broccoli.

Planting a lime, lemon, orange and passionfruit tree near the garden. Students were involved in planting the garden and are now responsible for watering, weeding and nurturing it. The aim for the garden is to produce vegetables that we can use in our school canteen and hopefully in the future set up our own produce market.

Involvement in Clean Up Australia Day, where we clean up the school grounds and perimeters of the school. Not only is it a day where the students get outside and make our school beautiful but it is also a day when students are educated about the damage of litter on our environment and the effect it has on our waterways.

‘Nude Food Days’ once a term, where students and parents are educated about plastic’s negative impact on the environment and ways in which to reduce it. Nude Food Day also encourages kids and parents to eat well and live well. We have seen outstanding results in our school with the Nude Food Day initiative.

Carrying out lesson plans that link with the cross-curriculum priority area of Sustainability, so that we get the most out of school events ensuring students have an understanding of the impact they are having.

At our school spring fair last year we also sold metal bottles to reduce plastic bottles at our school. We sold over 100 bottles, which are seen being used by many students in the school.

The St. John’s community is also reminded about events including World Environment Day, Earth Hour and World Ocean Day. Prior to these days staff are emailed information that they can use personally as well as lesson plans for the students in their class. This has a positive impact as students go home and tell their parents reasons why these days are so important and the changes they can make at home.

http://ausvels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/CrossCurriculumPriorities/Sustainability

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In October we signed up to a water monitoring system (Smart Meter Utility and Management Solution) so we can monitor our water usage and hopefully make some improvements. We get an automated message when we are using more than 7L/ min in our base below time, which is 10pm-4am. Our aim is to maintain water efficiently into the future.

Take a look at this video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/61SSMMHL74M

https://youtu.be/61SSMMHL74M

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At Mary Immaculate Catholic Primary School, Eagle Vale, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Composting - we have begun composting with 1 bin currently in use, and 2 more waiting to be started.

Nude Food Days - we had our first Nude Food day at the end of Term 3 and are implementing nude food days every 3 weeks in Term 4. Students have been educated (and will continue to be reminded) about the reason for Nude Food days.

Saving Electricity - signs have been placed near most light switches in the school to remind people to turn them off when not in use.

Future projects:

Worm Farm - it is in transit so will be put to use when it arrives

Reusable Lunch Bags - hoping to have a program in place for new Kindergarten students for 2017.

Nude Food Days - every Friday.

Vegetable Garden and a Bee Hotel.

At Good Samaritan Catholic Primary School, Fairy Meadow, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Welcoming new arrival families to our school, from the Congo, Iraq and Burma.

Providing free after school swimming lessons for new arrival families from vulnerable circumstances.

Donating food, clothing and furniture to new arrival families.

Continuing with 'Mess Free Monday' and 'Waste Free Wednesday' where students are encouraged to bring food in containers without packaging.

Ensuring each classroom and office area has a paper recycling bin.

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At St Brigid’s Catholic Primary School, Gwynneville, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Establishing a herb and vegetable garden that is run by the student Environmental Club. The produce is sold to staff and families with the proceeds being donated to the Social Justice cause.

Laudato Si' staff PD day and staff meeting to unpack Pope Francis’ encyclical.

Water for the World Campaign in which students learned about the need to protect the world’s precious resources with water being at the forefront. Students were educated about how many people do not have access to clean drinking water and the effects of this on health. Students then participated in different initiatives to help raise money and awareness for this cause. Students also learned what they can do in their own community to help save water and implemented water saving practices into the school.

Recycling and compost programs.

No bins.

Nude Food.

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At Holy Cross Catholic Primary School, Helensburgh, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Continued with ‘Gardening Club’ every Thursday which is funded by Peabody Mine Helensburgh. The funding supports a qualified ecologist from Eco-Logical (Dr Rod Armistead) and an SSO from the school (Sue Murray) to conduct Gardening Club from 11am–2pm. Gardening Club has two components – lunchtime sessions made up of a core group of dedicated students who volunteer their time to participate in environmental projects within the school grounds; and a one-hour curriculum-based session with a class for the term.

Curriculum-based Sessions: Gardening Club has conducted the following curriculum-based sessions in 2016:

o Term 1 – Year 1: Permaculture (Science unit) o Term 2 – Year 2: Backyards Past and Present (History unit) o Term 3 – Kindergarten: Why We Need Farms To Survive o Term 4 – Year 3: Living and Non-Living Things (Science unit)

These sessions are split into three parts – discussion, practical and Taste and Sniff (highly popular session where students try unusual fruit, vegetables or herbs). Activities include cooking experiences, experiments, scientific investigations, sustainability practices and gardening skills.

All programs have a dedicated planning session at the start of the term with the Holy Cross Enviro-team and class teacher and are evaluated in the last week of term.

Lunchtime Gardening Club is made up of a core group of students, mainly from Year 3 to 6 who volunteer their time to participate in a range of activities that revolve around sustainability and the environment. Gardening Club runs on an inclusive philosophy based around team spirit, sustainability and stewardship.

Highlights from Lunchtime Gardening Club include:

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o members leading the World Environment Day Mass and presenting the Principal with a native tree for the school;

o setting up experiments for the curriculum-based sessions;

o maintaining our Yalunga Garden which provides a peaceful space in the school;

o creating the new raised garden bed space; o project work investigating an endangered native

animal of their choice and presenting to the team; o creating ‘garden in a bowl’ table centre pieces for Eco-Logical’s annual conference; o propagating local native plants from seed to be planted in our school; o creating a space in our library to pictorially share the Clubs activities and successes; o peer teaching in the curriculum-based sessions; and o mentoring our volunteer infants students in the lunch sessions.

Successfully attaining a “NSW Environmental Trust Eco Schools Grant” from the NSW Government (to commence in 2017).

When trees outside our fenceline dropped a limb on our vegetable patch, it rendered the space ‘unsafe’. Our P&F donated funds for the purchase of ten raised garden beds to establish a new vegetable patch that would also be rabbit proof.

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At St Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School, Milton, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Recycling in every classroom (RED, YELLOW, GREEN Bins).

Water bubblers and refilling stations with meters and counters.

Use of refillable and reusable water bottles.

Carpooling for CEO events.

Use of sensor lights.

School vegetable gardens.

At St Paul’s International College, Moss Vale, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Echoed the world day of prayer for environmental issues. We organized a prayer day in school to call for awareness and care for our common home on September 1st. Teachers and students were introduced to Pope Francis' message Laudato Si’ in animation and prayed together over the resolutions we made.

Playing environmental footprint game & quiz (http://www.wwf.org.au/get-involved/change-the-way-you-live/ecological-footprint-calculator) in classrooms.

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At St Paul’s Catholic Primary School, Moss Vale, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Spirituality Day Week 1 Term 3, with Beth Riolo facilitating. This was part of our SRI focus Vision & Mission, exploring Laudato Si’ with time in the beauty of our local area (Cecil Hoskins Reserve), group action plan.

Follow up staff prayer with slide show following the Spirituality Day.

Staff prayer in the school garden.

Year 4 making soup with school garden vegies. Profits went on buying new seed.

School lessons in the garden (Year 1 reading/ crunch and sip).

National Tree Day, Youtube clip shown during assembly. Year 4 students as guest speakers to inform Year 1 about how the garden runs during National Tree Day.

Year 4 & Kinder have continued to care for the chickens & garden throughout the year.

Produce taken to Moss Vale Show in March, many prizes awarded.

Waste audit done twice through the year, all classes, discussion on “How can we reduce our rubbish at school?” More reusable containers being used.

Staff meeting booked for 2017 with Beth to continue the ecological conversation and journey of ecological conversion.

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At St Clare’s Catholic Primary School, Narellan Vale, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Undertaking staff spiritual formation, Who is my Neighbour? focussing on unpacking Laudato Si’ and reimagining the Good Samaritan parable with the environment being the one in need. This process made staff more aware of the principles of Pope Francis’ encyclical and the practical implications for our school.

Year 4 teachers incorporated Pope Francis’ encyclical into their Creation unit, as a springboard for discussing stewardship and care for our common home.

Staff members are becoming more aware of their environmental footprint, evident by our “Tree count” in each photocopying area. Each week, the amount of photocopying paper used is calculated and converted into the fraction of a tree we have consumed. This makes staff more conscious of their paper usage and the impact this has on the environment. Many staff are now questioning whether their photocopying is actually needed or considering if there is an alternative to their paper usage.

In preparation for the new school year, staff members have examined their class resource lists and reflected on ways of using and organising our resources in a more environmentally conscious way.

Discussions are underway as to how we can use our planned outdoor learning space for environmental education.

While St Clare’s already recycles paper, planning has begun to implement plastic recycling within the school early next year.

At the suggestion of a parent, an initiative we adopted was to become a collection point for the recycling of mobile phones and accessories. In partnership with Cerebral Palsy Alliance phones and accessories are recycled though PhoneCycle, which re-uses and recycles phones using the best environmental practices. Cerebral Palsy Alliance receives a small amount for each of the products donated, making it a win for both the environment and the supported charity.

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At Magadalene Catholic High School, Narellan we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Initiating a MobileMuster mobile phone recycling box at the school.

Participating in EarthHour.

Hosting an Environmental TeachMeet.

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At St Michael’s Catholic Primary School, Nowra, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

St Michael’s Primary School Nowra has a chicken coop, built by parents, that has five very contented chickens living in it. The chickens are well cared for, and loved, by a group of students. These students give up their lunchtime to clean, feed, collect eggs and play with the chooks.

It has been a learning curve to include chooks as part of the teaching program. Lessons have involved technology and design, gardening, research, nursing, cooking and craft.

The chooks were not doing well, so students needed to find the cause and a cure and in the process developed a pinterest page to record their findings. The chook pen needed to be thoroughly cleaned and modified.

Chooks get bored, despite the attention from 500 students; sometimes they need a get-away. A swing and climbing equipment were made, and the ‘girls’ saw themselves for the first time in a mirror placed inside the shed.

The students discovered dust baths are necessary for insect control and designed special baths complete with cleansing ash and sand. Shredded newspaper was used to line the nest boxes and sawdust from a local timber yard was added to keep the shed clean and warm in winter.

Food was supplemented by planting a permanent salad bar in the pen, spinach was planted in the vegetable garden, waste fruit from the compost was used to make fruit garlands, food baskets were hung at different heights to not only keep the food and pen clean but to keep the chooks interested. A hanging succulent garden and shade cloth was installed on one wall to help make a cooling microclimate, with a passionfruit vine planned for another fence.

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At St John the Evangelist Catholic High School, Nowra, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

The Staff spirituality day began with a whole staff engagement with Laudato Si. We then went out to country with a bush walk at Currarong headland led by Indigenous rangers. We began with a welcome and smoking ceremony along with a reflection of Laudato Si’ before we headed off on our trek. We spent time learning about the land and how Aboriginal people have connected with this location. We also reflected on quotes from Laudato Si’ along the track.

Our Johnnies Action Group have run a flick the switch campaign to raise awareness of our use of electricity.

We have introduced recycling to the playgroup over the last 3 years.

We shared in a liturgy led by the Indigenous team to conclude our immersion.

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At Corpus Christi Catholic High School, Oak Flats, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Whole Staff participation in spirituality formation day, “Who is my Neighbour?” Called to Ecological Conversion.

Follow on planning to engage in and implement ecological actions and initiatives across the school.

Showcase presentation - education of students around ecological action.

Nude food day.

Environmental Student group.

Grant for food garden - link garden to key competencies from curriculum, how to manage waste, and utilise outside organisations.

At St Benedict’s Catholic College, Oran Park, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Clean up Bennies Day

Information thorough prayer focus

Bennies Earth Day (minimal electricity for the day)

#EarthtoBennies - Writing Competition linked to Catholic teaching and suggested ways forward for the College

Wind catcher system - Environmentally friendly control of classroom temperature

Rainwater tanks (to be installed at a future building stage)

Paper Recycling

Red/Yellow bins

Integration through RE and Geography curriculum

Vegetable Garden

Previous Outreach program where students volunteered at the Macarthur Centre for Sustainable living.

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At St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School, Port Kembla, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Continuing to maintain the school garden.

Rubbish, recycling, compost bins in all classrooms and staff rooms in the school.

Using the school garden as a ‘living classroom by conducting science lessons in there, religion lessons about creation, maths lessons on position.

Christian meditation in the garden.

Using the outdoor kitchen and welcoming grandparents in to cook with the children using produce from the garden.

Harvesting produce from the garden and sharing it with the community.

Composting twice a week- Year 3.

Developing a ‘Garden club’

where each class has an opportunity to water the garden, harvest, chop and drop, turn compost.

This term we started having Nude Food Thursdays.

Collecting compost bins everyday- Year 5.

Collecting recycling from each classroom everyday- Year 2.

Whole staff spirituality Day on ‘Ecological Sustainability’.

Developing a worm farm- Kindergarten.

Begin discussions with P and F about using paper plates/ bowls in the canteen instead of plastic.

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At John Therry Catholic High School, Rosemeadow, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Whole School Pastoral Plan incorporating an ecological vision.

Year 9 Elective called “Sustainable Agriculture (in place for 8 years). Involves a term of gardening/vegetable course work.

School gardens and chicken coop.

Stewardship Camp– Environmental theme.

Annual Staff Environment Session – physical planting of plants/flowers.

Plans for Indigenous bush tucker plants to be incorporated into labyrinth with an Indigenous corner.

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At Nazareth Catholic Primary School, Shellharbour City, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Staff Professional Development regarding Laudato Si’ with the staff of Stella Maris, as a parish based approach.

Ongoing Professional Development for staff regarding Aboriginal Education and its relationship to Laudato Si’.

Caring for a school garden by the Stage 3 Environmental Leadership team.

Online programming to reduce paper use.

Plans to use the water from our 3 water tanks in 2017.

Plans to extend solar panels in 2017.

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At Stella Maris Catholic Primary School, Shellharbour, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Staff development Day Term 2- Laudato Si’- facilitated by Beth Riolo and Pat O’Gorman - In the spirit of Laudato Si’- shared the day with Nazareth Primary.

SICS staff meetings – unwrapped Laudato Si’- Beth Riolo.

Celebrated Laudato Si’ anniversary with a whole school community prayer celebration.

SICS Year 6 Leaders Day- Laudato Si’.

Stormwater Sustainability Workshop for Years 5 & 6- Ben Anderson Shellharbour Council.

Included Laudato Si’ teaching in our classrooms across KLA’s.

Initiated Environmental Leadership group for Year 6.

Continued to contribute to Clean Up Australia Day.

Continual awareness made at whole school assemblies to care for God’s environment by keeping the playground clean.

Vegetable garden providing for the canteen.

Have Solar panels and Water tanks.

Use of recyclable plates and cutlery for events. eg. Year 6 Graduation.

Extra recycling bins added to Staffroom.

Initiated the introduction of FOGO with Shellharbour Council to roll out in 2017- becoming first pilot school.

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At St Pius X Catholic Primary School, Unanderra, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ has inspired the students and staff to do more to our already beautiful school environment to ensure that all the wonders of creation are around for future generations.

We felt improvements were needed not only to the appearance of some areas of our school grounds but through our education of others, which would empower them to know that they can make a difference!

Our work began at the start of the school year exploring with the students Pope Francis’ message within Laudato Si’. What did this all mean? How could we help? We are just kids - what changes can we make?

An environmental team was established made up of Year 6 Student Leaders who had a natural love for the environment. Brainstormed what the school had in place already and what could be done better or needed to be established.

A collaborative effort (staff, students, parents and friends) has achieved great things in building a living and thriving culture.

Already established gardens were tidied up during working bees coinciding with Clean Up Australia Day, Keep Australia Beautiful, Go Wild for Wildlife and National Tree Day.

Hands on experiences of weeding, planting, pruning, cleaning, building and making. Use of recycled stones from the local area as part of the garden edging.

Creation of Remembrance Garden - focal point for ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day ceremonies. This garden has been redesigned to include rosemary trees, natural stepping stones, a lone pine and remembrance stones with plaques.

Plans for future projects include a natural wood carving of a lone soldier and signage to add to the garden.

Creation of Emmaus Garden for a range of liturgical celebrations and an outdoor learning environment for religion lessons across all the classes. This garden includes our school rules and a statue of St Francis of Assisi.

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We aim to have a shaded area with a bird bath and feed station.

The school was producing a lot of organic waste so we have brainstormed ideas to best reduce waste and put this natural resource back into the environment. We established worm farms and compost. Each class has a small worm food bin with posters encouraging correct usage of the bins and what can be disposed of and what can’t. At lunch time a student rep from each class empties their worm food bin into the worm farm/compost area. This organic/fertiliser juice is used on our vegetable and school gardens – all natural!

The vegetable garden was relocated, extended and given the name The Laudato Si’ Garden.

We invited the local Warrawong Bunnings representatives to help us learn about herbs and vegetables, how to plant, harvest and understand how to care for the plants.

This is a whole school commitment and has been achieved by each grade having a rostered day where they come to the vegetable garden to use the recycled water in the water tank to water the herbs and vegetables. The Environmental Team do the harvesting and then sell the produce back to the school community. This donation is used for sustainability elements providing seedlings and more plants for next season.

The vegetable garden is used for a range of learning purposes – Health (healthy eating), Science (life cycles, plants), Religion (creation), Geography (environment and

sustainability), Maths (measuring, timetabling), Creative Arts (design of Barry the Scarecrow – textiles, water tank painted design).

Plastic Free Wednesday we aim to expand to two days.

We have also created a hospitable place for “Jeffrey” our Echidna friend to visit.

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At Mount Carmel Catholic College, Varroville, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Student attendance and participation at a Schools 4 Sustainability Forum in the Campbelltown Arts Centre. The students were particularly moved by the activist Tim Silverwood, an Australian environmentalist - creator of various projects such as, “Take 3” - a clean beach initiative, and “Re-Chusable” - an organisation that aims to inspire a cultural shift away from polluting, damaging and wasteful single-use items to reusable alternatives. His passion for the environment along with his moving presentation, inspired them to become proactive advocates for the environment in order to make a difference. From this, students were motivated to rid plastic from the school and manage our waste more sustainably.

The first and most important goal was to ensure that students at Mount Carmel understood the importance of sustainability and how plastic can affect our environment. Students set up a youth committee responsible for carrying out care for the environment and making it a sustainable program in our school.

Students launched a campaign to create a school culture where concern for the environment is the cultural norm rather than the opposite. The students have spoken

at Campbelltown City Council events, were nominated for a YES award by Council and have delivered a number of powerful messages to the College community.

With the help of organisations such as “AYCC” and council representatives, the students started a campaign with the use of a slogan “#plasticNOTfantastic”, spreading the message of plastic not being what we see and encouraging students to stop using plastic products and replace them with environmentally friendly products such as wooden cutlery. Initiatives such as implementing recycling bins, selling reusable bottles and wooden cutlery to students and bin-filling competitions were explored. Students received awards for posting to the hashtag a

photo of themselves recycling their plastic during the campaign and an award was given out for the most sustainable design project in the College.

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A multitude of coloured recycling bins were placed around the school with the help of fundraising initiatives, and several promotions designed to educate students further.

The Youth Network secured the purchase of 12 recycling bins around the college and hope to establish a recycling program that will encourage the purchasing of more bins in the future and eventually lead to compost and organics waste collection. The students will have the opportunity to compete in competitions and school surveys with questions shared each week to encourage the students to recycle.

The aim is to make it easy for the College community to move our plastic packaging out of landfill and to recycle effectively. The College has established a house competition with points given to the house who contributes best to sustaining our ‘home’ within the College. It has been named after longstanding groundskeeper ‘Clarrie Jenkins’.

Sustainability and care for our common home is now at the forefront of the agenda in our year 10 social justice days where each student is educated on the importance of the encyclical to the Pacific and our local community. The theme of environmental sustainability has been interwoven into our social justice/ youth mission program at the College and has involved class captains of year 10.

In conclusion, we are very motivated to see a local community who cares about the way we utilise our natural resources and care for the environment. We hope to achieve the removal of plastic from our College community, foster a community of passion for the conservation of our local environment and promote the conscientious management of our natural resources. We hope that our small campaign can make a real difference to the Campbelltown and broader community.

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At St Therese Catholic Primary School, West Wollongong, we have cared for our Common Home through the following:

Developing an extended whole school recycling program including: - building a compost bin - creating a worm farm

We are now recycling: - paper and cardboard - food scraps - yoghurt pouches - toothbrushes, floss holders and toothpaste tubes - shampoo, conditioner and moisturiser bottles - glass - aluminium - plastics - used ink cartridges

We have as a staff engaged in formation around the theology outlined in Laudato Si’ and explored ways that we can promote environmental actions and initiatives in our school.

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