WESSA Glencore report 2022

Sukumani Primary School

OUR ECO-SCHOOL JOURNEY

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED The challenges faced by the school are learners that are heavily dependent on the nutrition programme as some have parents that are unemployed, others raised by grand parents who rely on grants as a source of income and other cases of child headed families. The school roll is also high at Sukumani which at times result in a shortage of food supplies. There is a huge challenge of littering which is affecting the school environment. Joining the WESSA Eco-Schools programme has assisted Sukumani to expand their food garden and introduce permaculture principles, use organic methods of growing vegetables and fully understand what to grow each season ensuring they have a constant supply of food throughout the year The second project is the waste theme action project on recycling and reusing where Sukumani started recycling white paper generated by the school and also reusing some snacks and sweets plastic to make eco-bricks. The recycling project has been a way of the school generating an income and keeping the school ground clean. The biodiversity and nature action project has helped create an outdoor learning space for teaching and learning about biodiversity. OUR ECO-SCHOOLS PROJECTS

through the biodiversity garden. The projects have introduced hands-on learning where learners can engage in practical learning instead of being in the classroom.

The school environmental committee had been doing various environmental projects at Sukumani Primary such as food garden, orchid gardens, and recycling. Soon after Sukumani joined the Eco-Schools programme in 2018 they learnt how to sustainably manage their projects in a way that kept the garden running, such as selling the vegetable produce to support other project needs. Teachers at Sukumani Primary have also learnt how these projects can be linked to the subjects that they are teaching, and this has helped teachers improve their teaching strategies and strengthened their knowledge and practice

Ogies

SUSTAINABILITY AND FUTURE PLANS

The plans are to expand the garden further for subsistence and income so that the school is able to raise funds beyond just sustaining the Eco- Schools project but to also raise funds for the school’s educational trips and Grade 7 farewell function. The Eco committee would also like to engage another theme to ensure that they fully benefit from what the project has to offer.

Sukumani food garden

Biodiversity garden

POSITIVE IMPACT AT OUR SCHOOL

Teacher demonstration washing hands using school hygiene system

Sukumani has benefitted from the Eco-Schools project in various ways such as, improvement of the school environment, receiving a continuous supply of fresh vegetables, installed waste bins helping to keep the school clean and greening

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