Waterwise Schools Program
The Waterwise Schools program educates students, their families and the wider community. We hope that students will adopt environmentally responsible behaviour towards water so that they become advocates and spokespeople for sustainable water use.
Our Waterwise Schools
All 26 primary schools in our local community have now taken the six steps to become a Waterwise School. Most schools have also been "Refreshed" since their initial accreditation, and some schools have even completed their second "Refresher". Keep up the great work!
|
Order of accreditation
|
School
|
Waterwise stage
|
| 1st |
Coffs Harbour Christian Community Junior School |
Refresher 1
1 March 2011
|
| 2nd |
Toormina Public School
|
Refresher 3
7 June 2021
|
3rd
|
Karangi Public School |
Refresher 2
10 August 2018
|
| 4th |
Casuarina Steiner School, Coffs Harbour |
Refresher 3
7 June 2021
|
| 5th |
Coramba Public School |
Refresher 2
6 August 2018
|
6th
|
St Augustines Primary School, Coffs Harbour |
Accredited
1 June 2009
|
| 7th |
St Francis Xavier School, Woolgoolga
|
Accredited
15 June 2009
|
| 8th |
Upper Orara Public School |
Refresher 3
16 March 2021
|
| 9th |
Kororo Public School
|
Refresher 2
12 August, 2019
|
| 10th |
Mary Help of Christians School, Sawtell |
Refresher 1
18 November 2016
|
| 11th |
Nana Glen Public School |
Refresher 1
11 May 2018
|
| 12th |
Bonville Public School |
Refresher 1
6 September 2019
|
| 13th |
Tyalla Public School, Coffs Harbour |
Refresher 1
4 November 2016
|
| 14th |
Coffs Harbour Public School |
Refresher 1
24 October 2016
|
| 15th |
Sawtell Public School |
Refresher 1
28 July 2017
|
| 16th |
Boambee Public School |
Refresher 1
11 September 2020
|
| 17th |
Narranga Public School
|
Refresher 1
3 November 2017
|
| 18th |
Sandy Beach Public School
|
Refresher 2
11 August 2020
|
| 19th |
William Bayldon Public School, Toormina |
Refresher 1
5 December 2016
|
| 20th |
Crossmaglen Public School
|
Refresher 2
18 September 2020
|
| 21st |
Bishop Druitt College Primary School |
Refresher 1
21 June 2018
|
| 22nd |
Ulong Public School |
Refresher 2
26 February 2021
|
| 23rd |
Lowanna Public School |
Refresher 1
29 July 2020
|
| 24th |
Corindi Public School |
Refresher 1
17 June 2019
|
| 25th |
Mullaway Public School |
Refresher 1
21 August 2019
|
| 26th |
Woolgoolga Public School
|
Accredited
18 March 2016
|
Delivering the Waterwise Schools Program
City of Coffs Harbour offers a holistic program of water education to local schools, so they can take a long-term approach to teaching wise water attitudes and behaviours to students.
Waterwise Schools has been successfully delivered by Water Corporation of Western Australia since 1995. In 2007, the WA Water Corporation granted City of Coffs Harbour a License to work with Cascade Environmental Education Centre to deliver Waterwise Schools to local schools, in partnership with the NSW Department of Education.
Six Steps to Becoming a Waterwise School
Contact Cascade Environmental Education Centre on 02 6657 4188 to find out about the program and to arrange an in-service at a staff meeting.
The Waterwise Educator can help you establish an Action Plan. You also need to appoint a Waterwise School Coordinator and establish a date for your accreditation ceremony so that you have a clear target to aim for.
There are five criteria to be met by your school:
- Devise and implement a Water Education Policy, which needs to form part of your submission to become accredited. This only needs to be brief, but the Water Education Policy can dovetail nicely with the required School SEMP (School Environmental Management Plan).
- Participate in water curriculum activities at all year levels across a variety of learning areas. The Waterwise Educator can offer fantastic support to your school to achieve this. You will need to provide a Waterwise Curriculum Overview and one work sample from each class as part of your submission to become accredited.
- Participate in National Water Week, which is held in the 3rd week in October every year. The Waterwise Educator can assist with this, or visit the official National Water Week website. Provide a record of your National Water Week activities as part of your accreditation submission.
- Encourage students to educate their parents about Waterwise principles. You will need to provide school newsletter samples or copies of media articles as part of your submission. The Waterwise Educator can provide your school with material for this purpose.
- Ensure that the program is ongoing. Your accreditation submission will need to include a statement showing how your school will continue the Waterwise Schools Program. The Waterwise Educator will be able to offer advice and assistance to achieve this.
As you progress through the first three steps of the Waterwise Schools Program, you will need to document your efforts so that you can provide evidence that you have met the requirements for being officially accredited as a Waterwise School. Your submission is sent to the Waterwise Educator for assessment. Once your school is accredited, you will not have to send in another submission.
The Waterwise Educator will advise if your submission has been accepted. If so, this should be a special day for your school! You will be asked to send in the "Ceremony Information Sheet" to City of Coffs Harbour. Once received, our communications team will prepare an article for the local newspaper about your school and prepare a speech for the councillor who will attend the ceremony. The attending councillor will present your school with a framed certificate and an aluminium sign for the outside of your school.
This ceremony is your chance to showcase all you have learnt through the Waterwise Schools Program to the councillor, City of Coffs Harbour representatives, parents, teachers and students. We encourage you to celebrate all of your efforts and the fantastic achievement in becoming a Waterwise School through song, dance, art, performance, presentation, electronic production, etc. Have fun!
The ongoing implementation of the Waterwise Schools Program in your school demonstrates your commitment to the program. It shows your commitment by encouraging environmentally responsible behaviours and decisions around water use by your students and their families, both now and in the future.
On an annual basis, your school will need to return a completed "Monitoring Summary" to the Waterwise Educator to provide evidence of your school's ongoing commitment to the Waterwise Schools Program. The Waterwise Educator can assist in running the Waterwise Schools Program in your school on an ongoing basis, so that you fulfil the requirements for the criteria and maintain your Waterwise School accreditation.