" Working towards the equitable, efficient and sustainable use of water, land and other environmental resources of the Queensland Murray Darling Basin "

Earth Smart Science Program

What is the Earth Smart Science program?

The Earth Smart Science (ESS) program will help schools to become more sustainable. The program is an election commitment of the Queensland Government to expand the number of environmentally sustainable schools in the State from 60 to 1000 by 2012. This also includes Education Queensland’s declaration of 2010 as the Year of Environmental Sustainability.

What does it mean for schools?

All state primary schools in Queensland will be required to participate in the ESS program by 2012.
ESS will focus on a whole-of-school approach to environmental sustainability.
Curriculum links will focus on Science and Maths.
Schools will be supported to develop, implement and monitor School Environmental Management Plans (SEMPs) to reduce their ecological footprint.

How will ESS be implemented?

The ESS program will be implemented through the Queensland Environmentally Sustainable School Initiative (QESSI) regional hubs.
The Queensland Murray-Darling Committee (QMDC) and Amaroo Environmental Education Centre (EEC) will each be supporting 15 schools annually in the Darling Downs and South West Queensland.
Schools will receive support in the form of training for staff, resources and visits from QESSI hub staff.

How can your school be involved?

The quota of schools is filled for 2010. However, QMDC and Amaroo EEC are each seeking expressions of interest (EOI) from 15 state primary or P-10 schools in the Darling Downs and South West Queensland to participate in 2011. Contact Sandy Robertson or Pippa Bagshaw if you are interested.

Benefits of the program

There are a range of educational, social, environmental and economic benefits associated with becoming a sustainable school. Some of these include:

numerous opportunities to engage students in Science, Maths and cross-curricula learning activities, in an authentic context
cost savings in the following areas: waste disposal, cleaning, excess water or energy bills, dependent on the focus chosen
the promotion of student responsibility, leadership, collaboration and team work, and
partnerships with external organisations and school community.