By Ewen McRae
What started as a conversation between pupils and their teacher about environmentalism has morphed into a school-wide composting scheme at Mackellar Primary School.
A group of grade 4 pupils from the school approached their teacher, Donna Piscopo, following a discussion on the environment and wanted to know what more they and the school could do to help.
“It completely came from the students,” Ms Piscopo said.
“They noticed that there was litter around the school and some of that stuff could go in compost. So they wrote a letter to the principal, had a meeting with him and then at the start of the term we had purchased the bins and we were ready to go.”
The grade 4 class presented their idea at a school assembly, and from there it has grown to the point where more bins were needed.
The students then learnt what could be used in compost and what could be used to feed the school’s chickens.
The whole school contributes and the grade 4 kids do the sorting.
Ms Piscopo said it was great to see such a positive initiative driven from the students.
“One of our school initiatives at the moment is to raise student voices, so students feel like they are heard and they can make an impact. So this fitted in perfectly with that,” she said.
“The principal sent around a letter to the students afterwards saying if any other students had any great ideas to make the school better to send them on through, which is great to see.
“There’s a bit of a buzz around the place with the possibilities.”
Ewen McRae
