The Franciscan Action Team at Our Lady of the Nativity in Aberfeldie is a powerful, positive force! The FAT consists of 4-5 Year 6 students chosen each year and they drive lots of initiatives that address the needs of the school identified in part by their collection of data. They are an integral part of raising awareness of sustainability at the school, speaking in assemblies, co-writing articles and notices for the newsletter, and visiting classrooms to support action. In 2022, the FAT won Student Action Team of the Year, in the primary school category, at the Sustainability Victoria RSS Awards Ceremony at the MCG. Later in 2022, the current year’s FAT presented at a workshop for teachers focussed around the connection between student voice and student wellbeing. You can see the recording here (go to 44:00 for the FAT’s section, introduced by their Sustainability Coordinator, Alison Lappin). Below is a reflection of the students in the FAT in 2021, who won the award in 2022.

What does being in the Franciscan Action Team mean to these students?

“The Franciscan action team allows me to connect with what I truly love... Nature! I have always been an animal lover and as I grow up, the frightening fact of what climate change could do to our animals and the world, was starting to make me think more about everything we do in our lives. I have been to many places around the world and each one of them is unique. If we don't stop climate change it means people won't have a chance to see the beauty of our world.”

“I put myself forward for the Franciscan Action Team because I was in our school eco club, and I really enjoyed doing that. I think as well I like helping people and the environment. So being in the Franciscan Action Team is all those things rolled into one.”

What are these students doing?

The team meets fortnightly to collect data, analyse the data and take action on reducing an area of need or raising awareness. Here are three examples of their students student-led initiatives tackling waste and inspiring hope:

Recycling of used IT equipment. The team carried out an audit of used IT equipment by liaising with the Sustainability Coordinator and e-Learning Coordinator. They then researched ways to reuse any items by offering some items to local people/groups in the area and contacted Moonee Valley Transfer station for those items not taken. Those items were then organised to be taken there instead of going into landfill. They shared this in the school newsletter to encourage families to do the same with any of their e waste.

Wonder Bread Bag and Tag collection. The team collected some data from each class about the use of soft plastics and researched about any programs to help reduce this. They wanted to address something that could be done at home to make families more aware of changes they could make. As a school we signed up for the Wonder challenge and the team organised collection points, delivered persuasive speeches to students at school and sent out articles in the school newsletter for our community.

Students Mentoring Students - Prayers of Hope: During Term 3 we unfortunately were back to remote learning but the team decided to mentor Year 4 students in the lead up to the Season of creation to assist them in writing prayers of hope to save the environment.

Saving Energy - Lots has happened in this space! Some examples include:

Students running a poster campaign for each classroom around how to use the aircon properly.
“Switch off” monitor roles in every classroom

Spot checks by the Franciscan Action Team
An exhibition for Year 6 students to showcase their ideas for renewable energy

What else is the school doing?

In short - a lot! With all the dedication, passion, and enthusiasm of Alison Lappin, the school is a leader in sustainability and student voice. Here are just a few of the slides from a presentation that Alison gave in 2021 for Earth Day to a Teacher Environment Network (TEN) event, which included information on the Flick The Switch program that the school signed up for in 2019. Below that, are the slides from the 2022 presentation on Student Voice, Student Leadership, & Student Wellbeing.