| ST AIDEN'S - EARTH DAY eco-schools |
| Please Submit your Lesson Plans, Ideas, Crafts & Activities here Earth Day in the Community Earth Day @ Home Earth Day International Earth Day We would love to have more home schools on board. Please find attached some basic info regarding Eco-Schools. (S Africa only unfortunately). Please call if you have any further questions. Best wishes Bridget Ringdahl Wildlife & Environment Society of South Africa National Eco-Schools Coordinator PO Box 394 Howick 3290 Kwazulu Natal South Africa tel: + 27 33 330 3931 fax: 086 501 3974 bridget@wessa.co.za Eco-Schools - Towards a healthy environment & whole- school development COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS CLICK HERE FOR THIS DOCUMENT IN PDF FORMAT HANDBOOK DOWNLOAD REGISTRATION DOWNLOAD What is Eco-Schools? “Eco-Schools is an international programme of the Foundation of Environmental Education that operates in more that 37 countries around the world, with over 15 000 schools registered internationally and 685 registered in 2006 in South Africa. It encourages whole-school improvement through better environmental learning and management of the school environment,” and is designed to encourage curriculum-based action for a healthy environment. In SA schools that register for Eco-Schools must submit evidence of improvement in the form of a portfolio that includes environmental lesson plans in every learning area for every grade; examples of learners’ work and proof of action taken for the improvement of the school environment. Successful schools are then awarded an Eco-Schools flag, which they are allowed to fly for a year. The Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) are the sole implementing agents of the programme in South Africa. WWF-SA are the fundraisers for the programme. What are the benefits for schools and educators? Eco-Schools supports educators in their main task, namely that of integrating environmental topics across the curriculum. Learning becomes an exciting process of self-discovery and application with the results becoming evident in an improved school environment and more motivated learners. Parents in the neighbouring community observe this change and often decide to send their learners to that school. What Support do schools receive? Schools can run independently of direct support from the National Office or alternately are part of a node (group) of schools that are supported by a coordinator who has had training in the Eco-Schools process/ toolkit. Responsive support is available to all schools throughout South Africa from a Node, Regional or National Coordinator. Contact details are available on the registration form; the official website www.wessa.co.za or on newsletters that are sent out quarterly. Workshops and meetings are often held (monthly) by coordinators as additional training and support for Educators. Do 2nd attempts get follow-up support? Yes, the national Eco-Schools office will support all Eco-Schools for continued progress, so long as they still fall within the required time frame for a second submission. At the same time they are most willing to answer any questions you might have regarding the process. If you do not have a node-coordinator’s support then try and link up with other aspiring or existing Eco-schools in your area and create a support network amongst yourselves. Is there sponsorship available through the national ES program? No, unfortunately not. WWF's funding priority for 2006 is the continuation of the current nodes, and current and new regional coordinators. Until further notice, we unfortunately can't approve any new nodes. In future all funding applications, including node applications, have to come from the National Office - that way we'll know that the node is of national priority. If you are interested in approaching a local business for funding the Eco-Schools office would be happy to assist you with writing a customised proposal. A copy of a funding proposal template is available in the ES supporter pack. Portfolios: If we don’t understand the portfolio guidelines how can ES help us? Give the friendly team at the Eco-Schools office a call and they will attempt to clarify any uncertainties regarding the portfolio. Alternatively you can contact the Eco-School nearest to your school and arrange a joint portfolio workshop. Is ES an extra-curricular programme? No, Eco-Schools in SA differs significantly from the programme run in Europe in that it has been re-orientated to focus on strengthening our curriculum and support its implementation. So, although becoming an Eco-School requires a lot of hard work and dedication on the part of learners and educators, it serves to support the core function of schools i.e. achieving “a high level of skills and knowledge for all.” How does it work? Schools may register anytime, before the end of April in order to qualify for a flag by the end of the same year. After registering the school will receive the Eco- Schools Toolkit and Handbook. The school then establishes a working group ideally consisting of all the educators, some learners and members of the community. During the first working group meeting a general audit is done (an example of the audit can be found in the portfolio guidelines) to establish what the issues are that the school wants to work on and improve. Hence the focus areas are identified. Ideally the focus areas need to be considered before the end of year curriculum planning workshop, to ensure their integration in all the teaching throughout the following year. A school environmental policy (SEP) (a short statement that explains how your school intends to promote environmental learning and action) is drafted and displayed throughout the school. The SEP can also be the topic of several lessons to ensure that learners are familiar with the school’s plan to become a star environmental school. Having included the focus areas in your curriculum planning, you can now start developing lesson plans that relate to your school’s environmental priorities. After teaching the learners about the environment you now have to take action to address environmental problems that fall within the three focus areas that your school chose. Finally you compile a portfolio (a book of evidence) that records the process of change at your school and submit your portfolio to the Eco-School coordinator by the end of October. Why are there two different registration options i.e. R100 and R250? The R100 option will provide you with a participation certificate and an Eco- Schools handbook and toolkit. The R250 option will provide you with all of the above and in addition your school will become a member of the Wildlife-and Environment Society of SA Enviro Clubs and you will receive copies of the beautiful quarterly Enviro Kids magazine and newsletter. DOWNLOAD THE HANDBOOK HERE IN PDF FORMAT Can our school register for Eco-Schools half way through the year? You can register any time of the year and start working on producing evidence for your portfolio, but the portfolios are due at the end of October every year and flags are awarded in November every year. Schools must be registered for at least 6 months before they can submit a portfolio. Registration for each year must be done through your nearest coordinator by the end of February every year. Can a portfolio include more than one years’ work? Yes it can so long as the work submitted has not been submitted in any other portfolio in any other year. If you find that you have registered but have not been able to do all the things you needed to do and do not want to submit the work for that year then hold on to it. Re-register for the next year and complete your portfolio for that year with the previous years work included. Just make sure you attach a letter explaining why you did this, when submitting your portfolio for assessment. A lot of schools receive support from a “node-coordinator”. We don’t have anyone supporting us, can we join the Eco-Schools program on our own? Definitely! All you have to do is pay the registration fee of either R100 or R250. Some of our best schools achieve Eco-School status without the help of an outside coordinator or supporter. We would be able to put you in touch with some of these schools in your area and maybe you can offer mutual support to each other? DOWNLOAD THE REGISTRATION FORM HERE IN PDF FORMAT Is the Eco-Schools program for Primary Schools or for High Schools? Eco-Schools is for Eco-Clubs, Pre-primary, Primary and Secondary schools. Any school can join. Harding Special School earned their Eco-School status during 2004 and proved that determination and commitment pays off. Will we get our portfolio back after assessment? Yes, the portfolio remains the property of the school and will be returned after assessment with a flag and ES certificate if you were successful. If you would like to donate a copy of your portfolio to Eco-Schools SA it would be greatly appreciated! What is the Eco-Schools International Linking System all about? The Linking and Itinerary system offers the possibility to meet a community of schools from all over the world, where teachers and students show their work and share it with others online. It aims at providing an "Itinerary" where schools can visit each other virtually, and understand their characteristics within their regional contexts, motivating young people to learn about each other and their culture. Through a search engine, the "Linking" can also be used to identify Eco-Schools with similar interests, within their own community or in another continent, to exchange ideas, work together on projects, establish “twin schools”, or just make new friends and pen-pals. How can an Eco-School register on the International Linking system? The first step to participate in the linking system is the pre-registration at www.eco-schools.net • Click on 'school pre-registration' and fill in the contact information fields. Your school information will then be validated by the Eco-Schools National Coordinator, who will contact you providing a username and password to login into the system. • Once you receive this data, you can log in and complete your school registration form. Some information will be asked for, including school details, experience in the Eco-Schools Programme, Linking preferences, and your region 'Itinerary'. You can also upload pictures of your school. Where and how can schools find partners for Linking? Using the search engine, you can refine the search by including specific parameters, like country, language, age of students, focus themes, school projects, etc. The system will propose a list of schools matching your preferences. Once schools are found on the system, they can contact each other; and when they are sure they share the same interests they may decide to get in touch. The usefulness and fun of this project depends on each school´s imagination, motivation and interest. How does the programme benefit the community? The Eco-Schools programme extends learning beyond the classroom and develops responsible attitudes and commitment, both at school level and in the wider community, promoting sustainable development and building community ties and capacity. Activities vary from area to area and depend largely on the specific needs of the school. They can be anything from food farming to cleaning river systems to erecting fences for security purposes. One school even elected to paint out their bathrooms in a dark paint to eliminate graffiti. Activities need not be focused only on the natural environment, but may also be of a political, social or economic nature. What are the Eco-School Awards Once schools register with the programme, they work through the Eco-Schools toolkit to develop and implement an environmental policy, lessons and action projects. At the end of each year, they submit a portfolio, which is then assessed. Successful schools are awarded with Eco-Schools status and a flag, both of which they may keep for a year. National Coordination Details: WESSA/ WWF SA Eco-Schools Programme P.O. Box 394 HOWICK, 3290 KwaZulu-Natal Tel: 033-3303931 Fax: 086 501 3974 |
| A Joint Project of Earth Day Network and Centre for SCREEN-TIME Awareness Did you know that the average television consumes 200-300 kilowatt- hours per year, accounting for an estimated 3-4% of the annual electronic usage in the USA. That’s a whopping 46.9 billion kilowatt-hours a year! Or, in environmental terms, approximately 36 million tons of carbon dioxide, a global-warming causing pollutant. Sign up your classroom for TV Turn Off Week! Earth Day Network is offering a prize to the top three schools with the greatest emissions and energy savings. Your results will be posted on our website. Register for the EDN Educators Network and find out more! |
| Go Organic Curriculum Contest Win Organic Food for Your School! Deadline for Contest: August 9, 2007 |
| Household Waste - Resources & Downloads (PDF) from EPA USA These links will take you directly to the USA EPA website where you will find a phenomenal array of free downloads Earth Day - USA EPA Wastes Household Waste Household Hazardous Wastes Indoor Air Quality for Schools Climate Change Climate Change - What YOU Can do Recycling PreK-5 - Teachers' Curriculum Project AIRE |
