Composting Workshops through the Communities Environment Program

At Prescott Primary Northern, we have been involved in the Communities and Environment Program, which aims to promote and encourage the benefits of sustainable environmental practices. It also aims to build community knowledge about our local environment and how we can conserve, protect, monitor, and manage our environment and waste sustainably. Our school has been steadily working towards the introduction of a more sustainable and environmentally friendly approach to managing organic matter on our site. Year 4 students were involved in the composting project management team in 2020. They actively tried different ideas to work out what type of collection systems would work for our classrooms for waste management. Since this time, we have purchased classroom bins for green waste, we have purchased a worm farm to process organic matter and a small rotating compost bin for composting smaller organic matter. These have been used to run composting workshops to educate our school community about the composting process and it’s benefits. Recently, Savvy Earthworks and Landscaping have constructed larger composting bays so that we can utilise larger volumes of organic matter on site to allow for decomposition of the organic matter, which we will reintroduce into our soil. This process prevents the loss of natural resources that we are able to use to regenerate the soils throughout our school.

Students have been participating in composting workshops to learn the benefits of composting. They have learnt about the process of making compost and the role of decomposers. Students have also actively planted plants using compost to improve the soil. The composting cycle benefits the whole school as a teaching tool to educate our students and the wider community about the benefits of using organic matter to build up the quality of the soil, which supports plant growth that in turn supports the ecology at Prescott Primary Northern.

This week, students from Years 5 and 6 participated in the composting workshops, and used the compost that we have been making this year to plant new plants into our Nature play space and into our Vegetable Garden. Students were intrigued by the composting process, and particularly enjoyed planting plants that will grow and benefit our environment and our students.

The composting project continues to be a school initiative that will teach students and our community about the importance of composting, and creating less waste into the future. The composting project has built community knowledge about our local environment and how we can conserve, protect, monitor and manage waste sustainably.