The Green Butterflies are in their second year. The principal Mr Danvil, is keen on continuing with the green club as he has seen the value it has brought to the school. The learners continue to be enthusiastic and have become more aware of their environment.
The aim of the annual planning and brainstorming camp from 17-18 March 2016 is to introduce the new incumbents (all the grade 6’s) to the green club as well as to plan the year ahead. We use the WESSA Environmental Calendar to plot down all the environmental days onto the year planner. This will assist greatly in planning outings, awareness campaigns etc. This can also be used by the school to plan events etc. around it.
The education program this year will consist of creating opportunities for leadership by providing and setting up mechanisms where the learners can become fully involved in leadership roles. This structure will give way for the learners to become active, responsible and take ownership of themselves and their school.
These teams were set up on the camp. Please see enclosed organogram with the various teams. A two day workshop with the learners will be necessary to train them into the new structure.
The new group next year will fall into their positions automatically and thereafter the structure will become integrated into the school mechanism.
The 2016 education program also introduced the concept of green points/credits.
This system has been put in place in order to encourage learners who seek opportunities to initiate projects, events, environmental campaigns etc. and can accumulate credits. Toward the end of the year learners with the most credits will receive a reward in the form of a camp, special outing, outdoor gear etc..
Learners will be encouraged to run environmental campaigns for specific environmental days this will earn those credits too. The aim here is to increase the environmental awareness and spread it further.
Training on this aspect is also planned.
CAMP OUTLINE AT ROOIBERG LODGE
A camp is the perfect opportunity for learners to acquire new habits and to see things in a different light. Here too life lessons are learnt , attitudes are changed and new values instilled, even if it is just two days.
- We had an interesting walk up the river to the kranses where the Speboom has been growing for hundreds of years. We stopped at the river and had a good discussion about water, its value, how it serves the environment and how to conserve it.
- In the afternoon after a refreshing swim, we had the brainstorming session where we planned the year ahead and plotted all the environmental dates. The leadership structure was created and we showed the learners environmental clips relating to Biosphere reserves, animals etc.
- The following morning we cleaned up camp and did a paper run.
- The learners got an opportunity to hear about the value of the Spekboom through a presentation done by Andre and everyone planted one or two trees each.
- After lunch learners got their packs ready and hiked out the lodge where the vehicles picked them up at the exit.
There was careful consideration to the food menu. There were no animal products used and the eggs were free range eggs.
Here is a picture of the total organic waste for the camp. Considering we had included much fruit and veg in our diet. This went to Katrina’s pigs. Zero waste.
The paper waste was also just about one bag. It is important that we lead by example. Many camps and outings have huge amounts of waste and there is no consideration for it.
WRAPPING IT UP
The response from the learners continues to be positive. Their conversations have turned toward more environmental. I picked this up on our hike out of the reserve. The learners have become considerate to each other and to the environment. They are more disciplined and I can almost say that they have a different focus in their mannerisms.
We would like to thank Jack Lewis for the pomegranates and Dirk Brink for the grapes that they sponsored.
A big thank you also to Rooiberg Lodge for their great hospitality and allowing the use of the kitchen and chef, Henry!
Thank you to everyone for being so passionately involved in guiding this process.
Regards,
Monica Vaccaro
Landmark Foundation: Education