SUSTAINABILITY AT RPS

We embed sustainability into most areas of the curriculum and school life to encourage our students to take responsibility for, and make a difference to the environment, both locally and globally. 

We have a hands on approach to reducing, reusing and recycling and are constantly learning together about how we can make a positive difference.

Some of our achievements:

• We participate in ‘Plant a Tree Day’ to help biodiversity at the school.
• We have a flourishing Productive Gardening Club where students plant vegetables and herbs, and then sell the produce at the Snack Shack or Friday market sales. 

• We are a ‘Nude Food’ school, meaning we encourage lunchboxes to be free of excess packaging. This reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill.
• We aim for low and no waste events.
• We actively recycle classroom waste.
• We have a 'Sustainability Corner' in our fortnightly newsletter that provides tips and information for the whole school community.
• We have solar power to generate some of our own electricity and reduce our consumption of fossil fuels.
• We have large water tanks to use on the productive gardens and other areas of the school.
• We have a dedicated Sustainability Committee to oversee a whole school approach to sustainability.

In 2021, we started our journey to become a 5-star accredited Sustainable Resource Smart School.

We worked with Urban Ethos and The Tropics to make this important video about sustainability.

The Sustainability Team welcomes all families to the new school year and look forward to working with the students, families and staff to continue embedding sustainability into everything we do both at the school and at home. 

We are also very excited to welcome the Sustainability Student Leadership team, Emi, Vivienne, Lucia and Bilijana who will be working on many exciting projects during the year with their fearless sustainability warrior Alicia Oliver-Cook.

This year the committee and student leaders will be focusing on the following exciting projects: 

• Completion of Phase 2 of the Koor Garden and developing learning resources for all students
• Planting and tending to the productive, Italian and food pod gardens and growing and harvesting food for Snack Shack and the RPS community.
• Introducing sustainability buddies to ensure sustainable practices in each classroom
• Continuing composting in each classroom
• Ensuring proper waste bin infrastructure in each classroom and in the school yard for best practice sorting of waste types

KOOR INDIGENOUS GARDEN UPDATE

For those new to the school, the garden located near the front Foundation end gate was named the “Koor Indigenous Garden” at the RPS centenary celebrations. 

The Bunurong Land Council provided this name to us, which in local Bunurong language means ‘flowers grow’. Recently, Green Team members put on our gloves and pruned and updated the Koor Garden to fill in some of the gaps. 

We replanted Arthopodium Strictum (Chocolate Lily) and Prostanthera Rotundifolia (native Oregano) and added Poa Labillardieri (Common Tussock Grass) and Viola hederacea (native violet). 

One of the visions for the Koor garden is to grow Bush Tucker for use in Snack Shack - but it is also a gorgeous sensory space for our kids and of course the diverse insects who visit.

As we were planting the garden, bees were already attracted to the new plants. Next time you stop by with your kids, why not read the beautiful new signposts together, which tell you more about some of the plants, or see if you can smell the difference between the two mints (Prostanthera and Mentha Australis).

FOOD CUBE GARDEN UPDATE

In 2023, Ripponlea Primary were the proud recipients of 2 Food Cubes in recognition for the school's work in sustainability. 

These large pods have an amazing wicking design to reduce the need for frequent watering and to keep our plants happily growing. Over the weekend a small team of students and parents planted a mix of seasonal veggies, herbs and flowers. 

We look forward to seeing what grows in the coming months, and especially what we might be able to eat!