Werribee Primary School recognises that the environment is integral to the quality of our student’s lives. We reduce the amount of energy we use by:
- using resources and equipment as efficiently as possible, such as, turning off lights in toilets and staffroom when they leave and turn off heating and cooling when the room is not being used.
- choosing the most appropriate energy saving methods available such as sensor lights, blinds and having appliances that are 4 star plus energy rating.
- participating in the Walk2School program that promotes sustainable transport and healthy lifestyle practices.
- encouraging our students to use sustainable transport, such as, walking or bike riding to school by acknowledging the winners from each grade level with the most students who arrive to school in an active way. The winning classes are presented with a certificate at assembly every Monday, and a trophy is presented to the class that has the most active students across the whole school.
- selecting OWL (Out With Lights) monitors to ensure that lights are turned off when there is nobody in the room and that doors are closed when heating or cooling are on.
- using sustainable practises to heat or cool the classroom, such as dressing for the weather or opening doors.
- implementing a shutdown regime at the end of the day where all electrical appliances, such as, netbooks, IWBs, lights and heating are turned off.
Solar Panels: In 2015, a 27kW Solar system (2 x 15kW inverters. 108 x 250W panels) was installed at Werribee Primary School. It generates 27% of the school's electricity. At the sunniest point on a sunny day, the system is generating 48% of the school's power.
The school's solar website is: https://www.solarweb.com/Account/GuestLogOn?pvSystemId=1490157b-e0f8-4888-afe7-a55d00297f37
Energy Frog kits were introduced at Werribee Primary School. Each kit has a plush frog, scrapbook and mission cards. Each week a selected child takes energy frog home to complete an energy saving mission with their family over the weekend. They then share their mission using photos, drawings or words with the rest of their class.
For National Ride2School day, Werribee Primary School encourages active travel to school and the message ‘Part Way is Ok’, by meeting students at the local park and walking to school together as a group. On this day, we hold a Rollathon, where students were encouraged to bring anything with wheels – bikes, scooters, skates and students were given the opportunity to do laps around a designated area. There was a 25% increase in active travel in 2016.
Earth Hour – On this day, it is an Energy Free Day to take collective action to reduce our carbon footprint. This means not using electrical items, such as, lights, heaters/air conditioners, netbooks or whiteboards. For every hour a classroom was energy free, they were given a green balloon to symbolise how much energy they saved. The school was energy free for 94% of the day in 2015.
Energy saving tips
You can do your power bills and the environment a favour by making a few simple changes to your daily life at home and work.
Tips for saving energy at HOME:
- Install low-energy lighting - such as LED or compact Fluorescent lights.
- Switch off lighting in unoccupied rooms.
- Switch off appliances which are not in use at the wall, to save standby power.
- Dress for the weather
- Set your heating thermostat to 18° to 20°C – every one degree less will save about 10 per cent on your heating bill.
- Weather-seal external doors using draught stoppers or 'door snakes' at the bottom and weather stripping around the frame.
- Use shutters and/or install awnings to cut out the summer sun on the Northern and Western side of your building.
- Wash your clothes in cold water where possible, and dry on a line or rack.
- Make sure your washing machine and dishwasher are full before running.