Council proud of school's green achievements

North Shore City Council is delighted the first school it has worked with under the Enviroschools programme has been acknowledged for its ' green-ness ' .

Verran Primary School in Birkenhead was chosen to host the launch of the national Enviroschools Awards scheme attended by the Minister for the Environment, Marian Hobbs, recently.

North Shore City ' s environmental education co-ordinator, Trish Kirkland-Smith, says she is extremely proud the partnership between the council and Verran Primary has helped the school help the environment.

" For someone who works behind the scenes, it gives me immense satisfaction to see the students acknowledged for their hard work and enthusiasm, " says Ms Kirkland-Smith.

" Our Enviroschools facilitator has been working with Verran Primary on a number of environmental initiatives for over a year, and the success of this partnership shows how working together can improve the environment for the whole community. "

Under the Enviroschools programme, the council ' s role is to facilitate the implementation of environmental initiatives into the school curriculum. It also seeks to influence the school into adopting a sustainable approach to its day-to-day operations.

" We ' ve got a charter between North Shore City Council and Verran Primary School setting out the philosophies, actions and the outcomes required to become sustainable. To complement this a pledge has been signed by every pupil in the school showing their level of commitment to the programme, " says Ms Kirkland-Smith.

" Many schools are doing wonderful things for the environment, but Verran is one of the leading schools in the Auckland region and is actively getting the environmental message beyond the school gates. "

Verran Primary pupils recycle rubbish, plant and maintain organic and native gardens and are also involved in composting, worm farming and stream-side planting.

North Shore City ' s deputy mayor, Dianne Hale, says it was wonderful to attend a national event of such significance at a school that has worked closely with council to make a difference to the environment.

" The pupils gave passionate speeches about why the environment is important and made it a magical event celebrating the hard work of everyone involved in environmental education over the past few years, " says Councillor Hale.

" North Shore City Council looks forward to continuing our involvement in environmental education and making a greater difference in coming years " .

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