What's Involved?

Introducing the Reef Guardian Schools Program

The Reef Guardian Schools Program encourages schools to become involved in protecting and conserving the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. The program extends beyond the curriculum and encourages schools to manage resources, their school grounds and surrounding areas in ways that help protect the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, while taking into account the needs of future generations.

The focus of this program is to empower students to participate enthusiastically in improving their school and community environments, address local reef-related issues, form sound judgement and be active in protecting the Great Barrier Reef and its surrounding environments.

Focus areas

The Reef Guardian Schools Program requires schools or individual classes to make a commitment to the protection and conservation of the Great Barrier Reef via one or more of the following areas:

1. Curriculum offerings

2. Management of resources

3. Management of school grounds and surrounding areas

4. Education of the community.

To achieve status as a Reef Guardian School, schools or individual classes are encouraged to address one or more focus areas in ways meaningful to their school communities.

Curriculum offerings

Integrate teaching and learning about the Great Barrier Reef into the curriculum in years P-12.

When the Reef Guardian Schools Program is incorporated into the school curriculum, students:

• Learn about the Great Barrier Reef;

• Develop skills to investigate and solve issues in the Great Barrier Reef environment;

• Acquire attitudes of care and concern for the Great Barrier Reef;

• Adopt behaviours and practices which protect the Great Barrier Reef environment; and

• Understand the principles of ecological sustainable development.

Students develop:

Knowledge and understanding about:

• The nature and function of reef ecosystems;

• The impact of people on the Great Barrier Reef environment;

• The role of the community, politics and market forces in environmental decision-making;

• The principles of ecologically sustainable development; and

• Career opportunities associated with the Great Barrier Reef environment.

Skills in:

• Applying technical expertise within an environmental context;

• Identifying and assessing environmental problems;

• Communicating environmental messages to others;

• Resolving environmental issues;

• Adopting behaviours and practices that protect the Great Barrier Reef; and

• Evaluating the success of their actions.

Values including:

• A respect for life on the Great Barrier Reef;

• An appreciation of cultural heritage in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area; and

• A commitment to act for the Great Barrier Reef by supporting long-term solutions to environmental problems.

Schools are encouraged to make the most of every opportunity to develop students' capacity to support an ecologically sustainable Great Barrier Reef.

Schools will be able to achieve a range of the objectives of the Reef Guardian Schools Program by using the Reef ED resources, including the P-12 teaching units, media centre resources and Reef HQ Education Programs available at www.reefED.edu.au

Learning opportunities outside the classroom

What is learnt inside the classroom about the Great Barrier Reef needs to be reinforced and supported by what happens outside the classroom. To support the protection and conservation of the Great Barrier Reef, schools can initiate a wide range of activities.

These include:

• Using special environmental events, days, celebrations and projects to complement learning in the curriculum about the Great Barrier Reef;

• Involving students in investigating, maintaining and improving the school and local environment;

• Using the community to investigate practical and relevant issues and situations affecting the Great Barrier Reef;

• Undertaking educational field excursions. Note: A Marine Park permit is required for educational activities in the Marine Park. To conduct an educational program in the Marine Park, contact the following regional offices for a permit. Cairns - Tel: (07) 4046 6660; Townsville - Tel: (07) 4722 5212; Airlie Beach - Tel: (07) 4946 7022 and Rockhampton - Tel: (07) 4936 0511;

• Incorporating outreach programs such as Waterwatch, Coastcare and Seagrass Watch into school programs; and

• Utilising the facilities and educational programs of public aquaria or marine discovery centres.

Teachers have a role to play in supporting reef education through the curriculum by:

• Providing a learning environment which supports students as they develop an awareness, understanding and appreciation of the Great Barrier Reef;

• Identifying opportunities to increase students' understanding of contemporary reef issues, such as coral bleaching, water quality, crown of thorns, global warming;

• Placing special emphasis on local reef related issues;

• Providing opportunities for students to develop into active and informed reef-citizens and advocates; and

• Introducing students to reef-related career opportunities and supporting students as they pursue these pathways.

Management of resources

Schools can manage resources according to the principles of ecologically sustainable development, i.e. avoid and reduce, reuse and recycle.

Schools are expected to develop a plan to:

• Address the management of outputs that affect the Great Barrier Reef, for example; energy, products, materials, waste, water or stormwater; and

• Maximise learning opportunities created by the school's management of resources to make links with the curriculum.

Schools are encouraged to:

• Take a whole-school approach to policy development which includes taking account of the environmental aspects of purchasing decisions, energy monitoring, water consumption and waste disposal;

• Audit school energy, water, waste and stormwater and work towards set targets in each area

• Employ best practice in management of school and community resources; and

• Identify learning opportunities for students resulting from giving them practice in the management of resources.

The efficient management of resources within the school and community provides a range of benefits including:

• Improvements to the Great Barrier Reef environment, such as reduction in litter and pollution, improvements in water quality, increased animal survival rates, and the protection of reef biodiversity;

• A sense of community, and pride in the school, working with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to ensure the protection, wise use, understanding and enjoyment of the Great Barrier Reef;

• Increased student confidence and skills in making decisions on environmental issues affecting the Great Barrier Reef; and

• Involvement of the local community, support from government and local publicity.

One of the most effective ways of protecting the Great Barrier Reef is to develop strategies linked to the school's grounds and surrounding areas, not only as a curriculum initiative, but also as a means of contributing to sustainable practices within the community.

Schools are expected to:

• Use and develop their grounds and surrounding areas to improve environmental conditions on the Great Barrier Reef; and

• Identify and implement long-term strategies that will rehabilitate the school grounds and the local environment, and reflect best practice in environmental management.

Management of school grounds and surrounding areas

Schools are encouraged to:

• Manage and develop the school grounds and surrounding areas in accordance with the principles of protecting the Great Barrier Reef; and

• Identify learning opportunities for students to manage activities within the community in accordance with the principles of protecting the Great Barrier Reef.

Many schools have initiated programs and developed their school grounds and surrounding areas in ways that contribute to the conservation and protection of the Great Barrier Reef. They have achieved this by:

• Clearly marking school and local stormwater drains with suitable signs, such as 'This drain leads to the Reef';

• Covering and storing rubbish in areas where it cannot contaminate or pollute stormwater;

• Initiating green waste resource recovery programs, such as collecting and composting fallen leaves, mulch gardens;

• Mulching school gardens to reduce water use;

• Planting school gardens or nature corridors with endemic native plants;

• Revegetating streams and creeks that flow though local areas;

• Initiating recycling programs to reduce littering;

• Constructing local wetlands;

• Participating in water quality monitoring projects such as Water watch;

• Initiating Gutter Monitoring projects and reducing the amounts of organic wastes entering the seas; and

• Adopting a patch of the catchment that directly feeds into the Great Barrier Reef, revegetating it and maintaining it in a healthy way.

The management of school grounds and surrounding areas can also be linked to other community projects, such as Coastcare, Waterwatch, Seagrass Watch and Landcare projects.

Education of the Community

Through its own operation as a Reef Guardian, a school may influence the community to question its own attitudes towards its impact on and use of the reef. This can be done through the school by:

• Communicating 'Reef Tips'via the school newsletter;

• Informing school and local communities about Reef Care projects and initiatives; and

• Publicising 'Best Environmental Marine Park Practices' on a regular basis.

 

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