Coffee pods, shattered tiles, golf clubs and bottle lids… not the usual items you would expect to adorn a greenhouse, yet the innovative students and teachers at St Francis Catholic Primary School are proving that our rubbish is, in fact, reusable.

With funding thanks to a grant from Boyne Smelters Limited (BSL), Gladstone’s Creative Recycling Centre (CRC) has been working with each class at the school to re-clad its greenhouse using both repurposed and waste materials which would have otherwise ended up in landfill.

This is the school’s third improvement project as part of BSL’s Building School Legacies investment program. To date, $16,000 has been donated to St Francis and is part of the $60,000 which BSL has donated to the schools in Boyne Island and Tannum Sands since 2015.

Each class at St Francis contributed a different section of the greenhouse walls and integrated their recycling art into their learning. Two good examples of this was with the prep class practising patterning in mathematics by threading bottle tops onto fishing line to make ‘curtains’, while the grade 3 class was learning about the Great Barrier Reef so they painted a mural onto old tyres.

School Principal, Kathleen Watt, was pleased with how the students applied their learning to a tactical school improvement project. 

“The students have been enthusiastically creating messages of sustainability and environmental stewardship under the guidance of the Creative Recycling Centre.  The project was such a powerful context to make connections not only to the Australian Curriculum, but to life-long learning.”

BSL General Manager, Joe Rea, said it was refreshing to see St Francis take both the educational and improvement direction as part of their Building School Legacies funded project.

“Our site vision is ‘Proudly Australian, operating beyond 2030’, and in line with that we want to focus on supporting the education of young Australians, as ultimately they will be the leaders of the future,” he said.

“The investment program provides an educational avenue for students to become involved in their school projects while also leaving a legacy for other students to enjoy in the years to come and we are pleased St Francis could put the funds to good use once again.”

The Building School Legacies funds has also supported St Francis students to learn about Aboriginal art and create murals at the school, as well as develop a nature playground for the students to enjoy.