Enviroschools Green Gold Award

Waikato Waldorf School became a Green-Gold Enviroschool in November 2018– a journey that has been the culmination of much hard work and reflection by the staff, students, parents and everyone in this very special learning community. We reflected at Bronze level in 2013 and Silver in 2015. Becoming a Green-Gold school in 5 years is not unheard of, but it does take a special kind of commitment from the whole school community, because being a Green Gold Enviroschool means everybody is involved and recognises the role they have to play.

The whole staff embraced the purpose behind the reflection process and made time in the busy school year to pause and consider the past, present and future of the school’s journey. The Envirogroup, the student leadership group, all the staff reflected with their classes on various projects, and the BOT and Parent Association also reflected on what it meant to be an Enviroschool.

The evidence gathered as a result of the reflection showed how deeply embedded sustainability is woven through the curriculum and the culture of the school. Standing out was how students are continued to be empowered at this school. Empowered Students, one of Enviroschools’ Five Guiding Principles was identified as an area the school wanted to develop as part of the Silver Reflection. During the Green-Gold reflection day, a teacher described the shift during this time as ‘transformative’.

It was a very conscious focus, with the development of numerous student leadership groups through the school, student lead action projects and the adoption of the then Kiva anti-bullying programme which has now been further developed into the Totora Programme to better reflect our special character. Being empowered as young people was so obviously important to the students on the reflection day and it’s vital that these qualities are developed in young people for a sustainable future.

Another highlight on the day was seeing the newly created Class 4 bird garden. Students were beaming with pride as they shared the story of garden and bird houses that they had planned, developed and made over the year. Everything had been thought about with sustainability in mind re-purposing old materials and the use of a muted colour palate.

Reflecting on environmental impact that big events can have, the Parent Association, decided to try going Zero Waste as part of their Mediaeval Carnival held in March 2018 – the school’s annual fundraiser. You can read about the process here creating a Zero Waste school event. This has continued in subsequent carnivals. The grounds of the school are clearly a living ecosystem. Here are some of the projects completed by the community and students:

  • Class 1 play hut

  • Bell tower

  • River garden

  • Play fort

  • Eco hut

  • Entrance roundabout

  • Outdoor classroom

  • Veggie gardens

  • Composting area

  • Teachers garden

  • Orchard

As part of this, the school continues to practice organic principals on its school site. The once community garden bordering our property is now an organic urban farm which is visited by our students as part of the curriculum.

Waikato Waldorf is a unique school community and a great place to visit as a model for learning and action for sustainability for both the school and the wider community.