Smallest Aussie School Yet Achieves Prestigious Green Flag Accreditation

This student led initiative was showcased at the ceremony by Renzy and Angus, who discussed the journey with those in attendance.  Here is what they had to say:

"The opportunity to be able to learn at this small, sustainable school is lifechanging. The activities and achievements we have conquered are truly valuable memories. I could not thank Belltrees enough for all the wonderful experiences and discoveries we have made. The time here at Belltrees is a tremendous and precious gift that I am sure that I won’t find anywhere else. 

I feel extraordinarly honoured and proud of the achievements we have made here at Belltrees Public School. This year alone our efforts have been rocognised by being a finalist for Banksia, been announced as the Sustainable Schools NSW school of the year and today we are celebrating and being accredited the Green Flag."

Our school’s main focuses that we have targeted are; Energy, Biodiversity, Water and Resources.  For each of these priorities we have implemented a range of strategies to draw down on our carbon footprint and become more sustainable. To reduce our energy usage, the school has installed solar panels, upgraded light fittings to LEDs, replace air conditioners for new energy efficient models and changed our behaviours to ensure we are not wasting energy. In water, many efforts have been made to conserve water from being 100% reliant on water tanks to creating wicking beds for our gardens and even spring taps on our bubblers. To ensure we reduce resource waste, we compost, sort our resources across a six-bin system compost, soft plastic, recycling, waste, return and earn and batteries. We have also created other projects for the environment such as leaky weirs and ponds. The purpose of these projects is to slow the flow of the water and to prevent an erosion from grasping all the top soil and taking it all down to the hunter river. Finally, for our chaos garden we have been experimenting all our new ideas and thoughts to recognise what harms or what saves the environment.

I also feel astonished that the small region has adapted sustainable farming practices. The school has triggered this effect by firstly going on a three-day excursion to Mullon in 2020. On this excursion we learned about hydrating the dry bitter land from the drought. The next year we invited schools across the region for an incursion day at Belltrees in 2021. This incursion was teaching schools about soil, water and plant health. And in the year 2022 we travelled around the Armidale region for three days looking at farms and stations. The purpose of this excursion was to further learn about sustainable practices in agriculture, including from the 2022 NSW Farmer of the Year – Michael Taylor from Taylor’s Run Farm in Kentucky. Also, this year we held another incursion day called Planet Ark School Tree Day. This day showed the best ways to establish and protect a tree and the importance of trees for the environment. And throughout these years we have ventured locally, to learn from experts closer to home. We have visited Kay and Scott at Elite Poll Herefords, Linda Russell at her farm near Blandford and the Crowes’ patch up near Waverly and, finally, Byron Hubbard, who we have not visited his property yet. but who has regularly provided his expertise to us at school or on our excursions.

My favourite sustainability project that we have undertaken is our journey towards net-zero. The installation of solar panels and learning about how they convert sunlight into energy to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, upgrades to the school fixtures to improve energy efficient options, simple behaviour change like such PowerPoint timers has led to exciting results in our journey to reduce our carbon footprint. This year the school has generated nearly 2000 additional kilowatts of power beyond what it has used that has gone back to the grid. The final goal for us is fundraising for a solar panel battery to reach our target of net zero. 

Reflecting on all we have done at our school, our ponds are my favourite project by far. They are my favourite project because I enjoy standing by the water, witnessing the bird and insect life, the trees we have planted and seeing the difference it has made. Now why they are important to the eco-system 

Number 1, they stop erosion, which scars the landscape. Number 2, it slows the flow and hydrates the land. Number 3, it reduces the chance of blue and green algae, blooming in our waterways.