Waterwise Schools Program

Upper_Orara_Refresher_Official.jpg

The Waterwise Schools program educates students, their families and the wider community. We hope that students will adopt environmentally responsible behaviour towards water so that they become advocates and spokespeople for sustainable water use.

Our Waterwise Schools

All 26 primary schools in our local community have now taken the six steps to become a Waterwise School. Most schools have also been "Refreshed" since their initial accreditation, and some schools have even completed their second "Refresher". Keep up the great work!

See where your school is on their Waterwise journey here.

Order of accreditation

School

Waterwise stage

1st Coffs Harbour Christian Community Junior School
Refresher 1
1 March 2011
2nd Toormina Public School
Refresher 3
7 June 2021
3rd
Karangi Public School
Refresher 2
10 August 2018
4th Casuarina Steiner School, Coffs Harbour
Refresher 3
7 June 2021
5th Coramba Public School
Refresher 2
6 August 2018
6th
St Augustines Primary School, Coffs Harbour
Accredited
1 June 2009
7th St Francis Xavier School, Woolgoolga
Accredited
15 June 2009
8th Upper Orara Public School
Refresher 3
16 March 2021
9th Kororo Public School
Refresher 2
12 August, 2019
10th Mary Help of Christians School, Sawtell
Refresher 1
18 November 2016
11th Nana Glen Public School
Refresher 1
11 May 2018
12th Bonville Public School
Refresher 1
6 September 2019
13th Tyalla Public School, Coffs Harbour
Refresher 1
4 November 2016
14th Coffs Harbour Public School
Refresher 1
24 October 2016
15th Sawtell Public School
Refresher 1
28 July 2017
16th Boambee Public School
Refresher 1
11 September 2020
17th Narranga Public School
Refresher 1
3 November 2017
18th Sandy Beach Public School
Refresher 2
11 August 2020
19th William Bayldon Public School, Toormina
Refresher 1
5 December 2016
20th Crossmaglen Public School
Refresher 2
18 September 2020
21st Bishop Druitt College Primary School
Refresher 1
21 June 2018
22nd Ulong Public School
Refresher 2
26 February 2021
23rd Lowanna Public School
Refresher 1
29 July 2020
24th Corindi Public School
Refresher 1
17 June 2019
25th Mullaway Public School Refresher 1
21 August 2019
26th Woolgoolga Public School
Accredited
18 March 2016

 

Delivering the Waterwise Schools Program

City of Coffs Harbour offers a holistic program of water education to local schools, so they can take a long-term approach to teaching wise water attitudes and behaviours to students.

Waterwise Schools has been successfully delivered by Water Corporation of Western Australia since 1995. In 2007, the WA Water Corporation granted City of Coffs Harbour a License to work with Cascade Environmental Education Centre to deliver Waterwise Schools to local schools, in partnership with the NSW Department of Education.  

Six Steps to Becoming a Waterwise School

1. Hold an In-Service for staff on the program

Contact Cascade Environmental Education Centre on 02 6657 4188 to find out about the program and to arrange an in-service at a staff meeting.

2. Develop an action plan

The Waterwise Educator can help you establish an Action Plan. You also need to appoint a Waterwise School Coordinator and establish a date for your accreditation ceremony so that you have a clear target to aim for.

3. Address the criteria

There are five criteria to be met by your school:

  1. Devise and implement a Water Education Policy, which needs to form part of your submission to become accredited. This only needs to be brief, but the Water Education Policy can dovetail nicely with the required School SEMP (School Environmental Management Plan).

  2. Participate in water curriculum activities at all year levels across a variety of learning areas. The Waterwise Educator can offer fantastic support to your school to achieve this. You will need to provide a Waterwise Curriculum Overview and one work sample from each class as part of your submission to become accredited.

  3. Participate in National Water Week, which is held in the 3rd week in October every year. The Waterwise Educator can assist with this, or visit the official National Water Week website. Provide a record of your National Water Week activities as part of your accreditation submission.

  4. Encourage students to educate their parents about Waterwise principles. You will need to provide school newsletter samples or copies of media articles as part of your submission. The Waterwise Educator can provide your school with material for this purpose.

  5. Ensure that the program is ongoing. Your accreditation submission will need to include a statement showing how your school will continue the Waterwise Schools Program. The Waterwise Educator will be able to offer advice and assistance to achieve this.

4. Compile your submission

As you progress through the first three steps of the Waterwise Schools Program, you will need to document your efforts so that you can provide evidence that you have met the requirements for being officially accredited as a Waterwise School. Your submission is sent to the Waterwise Educator for assessment. Once your school is accredited, you will not have to send in another submission.

5. Organise your Waterwise recognition ceremony

The Waterwise Educator will advise if your submission has been accepted. If so, this should be a special day for your school! You will be asked to send in the "Ceremony Information Sheet" to City of Coffs Harbour. Once received, our communications team will prepare an article for the local newspaper about your school and prepare a speech for the councillor who will attend the ceremony. The attending councillor will present your school with a framed certificate and an aluminium sign for the outside of your school.

This ceremony is your chance to showcase all you have learnt through the Waterwise Schools Program to the councillor, City of Coffs Harbour representatives, parents, teachers and students. We encourage you to celebrate all of your efforts and the fantastic achievement in becoming a Waterwise School through song, dance, art, performance, presentation, electronic production, etc. Have fun!

6. Maintain your school's commitment to the program

The ongoing implementation of the Waterwise Schools Program in your school demonstrates your commitment to the program. It shows your commitment by encouraging environmentally responsible behaviours and decisions around water use by your students and their families, both now and in the future.

On an annual basis, your school will need to return a completed "Monitoring Summary" to the Waterwise Educator to provide evidence of your school's ongoing commitment to the Waterwise Schools Program. The Waterwise Educator can assist in running the Waterwise Schools Program in your school on an ongoing basis, so that you fulfil the requirements for the criteria and maintain your Waterwise School accreditation.