Accreditation

The accreditation process is optional. It requires a whole school or class commitment to reef education guardianship. It is intended to be an evolving process that may develop over a number of years.

As a model for the community in reef guardianship, schools are in a prime position to attract funding for reef education, environmental improvement and to attract public recognition for their contribution to reef guardianship.

The Accreditation Process

To be accredited as a Reef Guardian School, school communities must meet criteria under the four focus areas outlined in the Reef Guardian Schools Judging Criteria.

Progress in one or more of the focus areas (Curriculum, Management of resources, Management of school grounds and surrounding areas, and Education of the community) can be demonstrated in a variety of ways.

Examples include action plans, curriculum maps, visits to Reef HQ, samples of student work, photos, school resource audit details, 'before and after' photos of school ground improvements, examples of school newsletter articles that educate others about how to protect the Great Barrier Reef, newspaper clippings, videos and PowerPoint presentations.

Evidence of students' work both in and out of the classroom in curriculum, resource management, management of the school grounds and surrounding areas, and education of the community can be documented in an ongoing capacity and mailed or delivered to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority by mid-October each year. A panel will judge the school's documentation and notify successful schools in November each year.

The following table provides a sample Action Plan for all four areas as an indication of what schools might undertake as a Reef Guardian School.

Sample Action Plan with Accreditation Criteria for each Focus Area

Reef Guardian Action Plan

Reef Guardian School Judging Criteria

A judging panel will accredit a school as a Reef Guardian School, if it meets the following criteria in one or more of the following four focus areas:

Curriculum

The school:

• Demonstrates that Reef Education has been integrated into a class or programs for some year levels

• Provides evidence that special Reef related environmental days, programs and events have been incorporated into its curriculum

Management of resources

The school:

• Recycles all papers and materials where possible, and demonstrates it is implementing a Reef Guardianship policy

• Takes account of the environmental impact of its purchases

• Disposes of waste water in a way that it does not have a negative impact on the Great Barrier Reef

• Has appropriate practices for the disposal of toxic chemicals

• Encourages its students to adopt sustainable management practices at home, school, in the general community, and on the Great Barrier Reef
  
  

Management of school grounds and surrounding areas

The school:

• Considered development of its grounds in terms of the impact it might have on local environments and the Great Barrier Reef

• Uses the grounds as a learning environment to support syllabus outcomes

• Has encouraged the students to be actively involved in grounds and surrounding areas management and improvement to the benefit of the Great Barrier Reef

• Has introduced responsible practices in the school grounds, and in management and improvement of the surrounding area, to the benefit of the Great Barrier Reef

Education of the community

The school:

• Promoted and publicized school projects that benefit the Great Barrier Reef using the local media, school newsletters, school magazines and displays in local shopping centers, council chambers, libraries and the like.

• Presented public Reef Guardian School displays and performances to inform and involve the school community in ways it can protect and conserve the Great Barrier Reef

• Designed educational materials on the protection and conservation of the Great Barrier Reef.