Waterwise Schools Program

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:

1. 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).
   
   
2. 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.
   
   
3. 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.
   
   
4. 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.
   
   
5. 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.