ESSSN Minutes – Term 4, 3 December 2013 4-6pm
Centennial Park Education Precinct
1. Welcome
Vicky Bachelard from Waverley Council and Stephanie Martin from Woollahra Council welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for coming. Upon arrival, people helped themselves to nibblies, tea and coffee. Guada Lado from Randwick Council took photos for the afternoon.
2. Lessons in Nature Play from Centennial Park
Sam Crosby, Coordinator of Education Services at Centennial Parklands invited the guests to take part in ‘Lessons in Nature Play’ a session to reinforce environmental learning through a child-centred nature play experience. The session was also designed for all teachers and environmental educators to realise that a tangible connection with nature needs to be made in a child’s learning process.
Visit http://www.centennialparklands.com.au/education/centennial_parklands_education_precinct/the_learning_centre3 for more information on the various environmental activities and experiences on offer at the learning centre.
3. ESSSN Sustainability Awards 2013
Eastern Suburbs schools are doing a wonderful job educating and empowering students to creatively and strategically care for our local environment. From gardens, to farm yards, to leadership programs – there is much to be celebrated! In response to this, the Eastern Suburbs Sustainable Schools Network (ESSSN) was proud to award the ESSSN Sustainability Awards to recognise local schools for their dedication and commitment to sustainability projects, environmental projects and initiatives they are working on.
Vicky Bachelard from Waverley Council did a short introduction about the purpose of the ESSSN Sustainability Awards. Award categories include energy, water, waste, biodiversity and student empowerment & leadership.
When school group representatives heard their name called, they came to the front and were handed a certificate and prize from Costa Georgiadis, Gardening Australia host and patron for the Australian Association for Environmental Education.
The winners of the 2013 ESSSN Sustainability Awards were:
Waste – Maroubra Bay Public School, What a Waste! Project
Water – Randwick Primary School, Drip Busters Project
Biodiversity – Brigidine High School, Burrendong Arboretum Project
Energy - – Randwick Primary School, Power Rangers Project
Student Leadership & Empowerment – St Andrews Catholic Primary School, Playground Project
The following projects were highly commended by the judges:
Waste – Moriah College, Eco-Biz Project
Water – Claremont College, Claremont’s farmyard Project
Biodiversity – Vaucluse Public School, Bush tucker garden Project
Biodiversity – Randwick South Family Day Care, Creating a fruity forest Project
Biodiversity – Clovelly Public School, Environmental Learning Garden Area Project.
Student Leadership & Empowerment – Moriah College, Eco-Biz Project
Sydney Girls High School was also recognised as the Judges’ Choice for Creativity and Design for their Green and Marine Day event.
Well done to all our award recipients!
4. Reflections on 2013 ESSSN
Guests were then asked to move outside for more drinks and nibbles and to take the opportunity to provide their reflections and feedback on the ESSSN meetings in 2013. There were 3 large pieces of paper on tables all with different questions:
1. What did you like best about the ESSSN meetings this year
2. What didn't you like about the ESSSN meetings this year?
3. What are your ideas for 2014 meetings?
Guests wrote down their answers below each question with a marker. The reflections are listed in the appendix below. There was some great feedback written on these sheets and thanks to everyone who added something.
6. Meeting Close and Thanks
Vicky, Sam and Stephanie thanked everyone for attending and for another fantastic year. Vicky announced the details for the 2014 meetings.
Next Meeting:
Proposed 2014 Dates:
Term 1: Tuesday 18 February 2014 (Waverley School)
Term 2: Tuesday 20 May 2014 (Woollahra School)
Term 3: Tuesday 12 August 2014 (Randwick School)
Term 4: Tuesday 2 December 2014 (inc. awards) - (potentially Waverley Pavillion?) or somewhere neutral to three councils
Appendix 1: Reflections on 2013
What did you like best about the ESSSN meetings this year?
· The variety of topics and venues
· 'Free' ideas to save energy and costs
· Grant money and notice of upcoming grants
· Sharing of ideas
· The passion of the presenters
· Great Resources
· Relationship with Council
· Brilliant collaboration between the Council's
· Great recourses and idea
2. What didn't you like about the ESSSN meetings this year?
· I found the start time a tad too early
· Agree with above
· All great
3. What are your ideas for 2014 meetings?
· Getting kids and community involved in projects
· Planning projects in a yearly planner
· Like the above idea
· Variety of guest speakers
· Planning for school with ideas from a group of colleagues
· Environment day - types of activities rotation
· Grant winners present before and after
· Making it as easy as possible for school communities to kick start and sustain programs
· Day for P&C to get involved and learn importance of sustainability
· Simple ways of monitoring wildlife, including photography sound recordings, counts...linking with all KLAs and an understanding of which habitats are richer - action to plant more habitats.