A Sustainable Scotch College

Following last week's vote in the European Parliament regarding single use plastic, I thought it was an apt time to talk about leadership in sustainability. There is some talk that the proposed legislation is in response to a Twitter argument between UK and EU ministers over who is leading the charge on environmental reforms. Last week's vote will ban most single use plastic products by 2021 and was overwhelmingly supported, 571 votes to 53. The College is committed to being a leader in this area and sustainable best practice because it is the right thing to do. It is also a part of our core values, our commitment to Round Square and the International Baccalaureate, plus our role in delivering the Australian Curriculum.

One of the College's core values is Stewardship, and sustainable practice is a primary example of maintaining the world for future generations. The Round Square drives its activities through the IDEALS, an acronym of which E stands for Environment, L for Leadership, and S for Service, all of which contribute to a sustainable future. The International Baccalaureate has sustainability at its core and as an IB global school, we are incorporating programmes that can demonstrate what it means to be internationally minded, responsible and ethical citizens. Finally, the Australian Curriculum, which is mandated in all Australian schools, has Sustainability as one of its three cross curricular priorities.

To implement our sustainability programme, we operate through academic and co curriculum spaces. Some academic units' examples include; our Year 5 cross curricular unit creating reusable bags that advertise the need to protect our oceans and their inhabitants; various iLearn units in the Middle School, and the Year 10 Geography Sustainable Living Spaces a segment of which is run by sustainability consultant. Co-curricular activities include working with Friends of Lake Claremont (Habitators), Second Bite, and Cameron House recycling.

We also work with partners to help us in establishing best practice in our school such as Chartwells, our catering and boarding house supplier. We will implement the Birthday Bag project in the Junior School in 2019 and the Second Bite Soup Kitchen is increasingly popular open to Middle and Senior Students.

The most substantial investment the College has made in the sustainability space is our commitment to solar energy. The College also ensures we are at the forefront of renewable energy with the 2018 installation of our solar power network which featured on the 'One Step Off The Grid' website this week.. The article can be found here. We also provide annual reports to the Town of Claremont and Friends of Lake Claremont as to our water and fertiliser use and these can be found on the home.scotch Service and Citizenship site.

There is always more to do and if you have ideas or are interested in sustainability at Scotch College, please send me an email.

    

Mr David Kyle
Director of Service and Citizenship