Curro Bankenveld has been a part of the Eco-Schools Programme since 2012. At the end of 2014 they were successful in their efforts to strengthen environmental learning at the school for three consecutive years, thereby qualifying for an internationally recognised symbol of excellence: the Eco-Schools Flag.
Eco-Schools is a school-based environmental management, certification, and sustainable development education programme, implemented in over 52 countries worldwide. Various organisations support Eco-Schools on an international and local level.
In Mpumalanga this worthy project is generously funded by Glencore. The Eco-Schools Programme involves seven steps – ranging from establishing an Eco-Schools Committee, to encouraging and managing the programme, to developing an eco-code, which outlines the school’s values and objectives.
For the last three years, Curro Bankenveld has worked very hard to create an awareness for the environment amongst their learners.
Together with the land service club, the school has initiated quite a few environmentally friendly activities which include recycling, learning to identify invader plants, cleaning up of the nearby nature reserve and planting vegetable seeds.
The school also integrates these values in their classrooms when they learn about the different dwellings where people live, the use of grey water, saving electricity, sorting out garbage for recycling, citizenship and many more.
Future projects include the involvement with a nursery school to start a vegetable garden.
The holistic participatory approach of the Eco-Schools programme is a combination of learning and action, which not only benefits the school and learners, but also the local community – a perfect example of whole-school development and improvement.
The process involves a wide range of stakeholders, but it is the pupils who play the most important role.
How does the road ahead look? At the end of 2015 Curro Bankenveld will have qualified for their gold award and by the end of 2016 they will receive their International Flag.
Just another way in which they strive for excellence every day in everything they do at Curro Bankenveld.
