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Golden Grove High School has a well-established Environmental Action Team (EAT), led by the school’s Sustainability Coordinator. This team includes a dedicated team of staff who volunteer their time to engage the school community in a range of sustainability-related projects, students from Student Voice who are passionate about the environment, parents and members of outside agencies such as KESAB and Green Adelaide.

Our vision is to have an educated and informed school community that recognises that they have a moral responsibility (personally and collectively) for the environment that motivates action through knowledge and respect for the environment around us. Our school is actively working towards inter-generational equality, ensuring future generations benefit from our efforts in engaging with sustainable practices.

Some of the key achievements of the EAT over the last couple of years include:

  • Annual Sustainability Award for a staff member and student that demonstrates living and working/studying sustainably (2016)
  • Formation of the Environmental Management Unit (EMU) which is a passionate group of students who meet once a week to raise concerns and offer student-led initiatives in the field of sustainability (2017)
  • Established a veggie patch for use in the Home Economics kitchen and purchased a compost tumbler and worm farm to be actively used in the school to re-use our green waste in a meaningful and sustainable way
  • Significant reduction in paper usage through a variety of strategies
  • Embedding the cross-curriculum priority of sustainability in the Australian Curriculum into the school’s curriculum
  • Establishment of Year 8 HASS Immersion Day which occurs twice a year and engages students in the wider community, specifically at Cobbler Creek Recreation Park, by giving them the opportunity to engage in conservation projects such as revegetation and learning about the cultural significance of the land
  • Trees for Life SA member
  • Raise approximately $1500 each year from recycling plastic bottles and cans
  • Secured funding for installation of solar panels across the whole school plus extensive update of LED lighting
  • Introduced soft plastics recycling bins into the staff room, some offices and the yard to reduce soft plastics going to landfill (2020)
  • Visit from the Minister for Environment and Water, David Speirs MP, for World Environment Day, June 5th (2020)
  • Received a grant for t-shirts for our Discovery Centre sustainability class from Minister Speirsand local MP, Paula Luethen (2020)
  • Moving towards Sports Day being a 'Sustainable Event', with less waste going to landfill, and students and staff encouraged to wear clothing and accessories in house colours which have been borrowed, op shopped, worn year after year and/or passed on to younger siblings, the school's sports day costume box or op shops
  • Move towards eco-friendly compostable Bio Cups at whole-school events
  • Previous student representation on the state-wide Youth Environment Council 

Our school has been recognised globally, nationally and regionally for our achievements in this field:

  • Our School Environment Management Plan (SEMP) was used as an example by the Natural Resource Management Board (NRM) in America as 'best SEMP for Secondary Schools' working with NRM
  • A representative from the University of Shiga Prefecture in Japan flew to Adelaide to visit GGHS and gather research and inspiration for changes to the Japanese curriculum
  • We featured in a promotional video about 'Student Voice and Sustainability' produced by the former NRM Education team
  • Articles promoting sustainability at GGHS published in The Messenger, Australian Teacher Magazine, AEU Magazine and former NRM Newsletter
  • A feature school at a range of state-wide training and development sessions on sustainability in secondary schools, such as the former NRM Education Sustainability Showcase Awards ceremonies

In March 2019 our school featured in the former NRM Education Weekly Digest with an article about embedding sustainability within our school practices.

In 2018, GGHS was selected as the feature school for the previous Adelaide and Mt. Lofty Ranges NRM Board’s promotional video regarding exceptional sustainable practises in a secondary school setting. Click here to view the highlights of what GGHS has to offer in this field, proving that individuals and small actions can help make a difference.

Click here to view the KESAB promotional video about GGHS's Resource Management.

A summary of the EAT's initiatives, as presented at a state-wide conference on sustainability in secondary schools can be seen here.

Wipe Out Waste (WOW) Case Study

Click here to view an article on GGHS's Environmental Action Team's work which was published in the August 2016 Australian Teachers Magazine.

For information, please contact our Sustainability Coordinator, Laura Carrington This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.