Sustainable Schools Awards Ceremony 2023: Celebrating Green Achievements and Eco Triumphs

Written by Lana Murray

On 11th February 2024, Sustainable Schools hosted its annual Prize Giving Ceremony – celebrating schools’ successes and progress for the year 2023. It is a time when all sustainable schools registered on the programme are recognised for their efforts throughout the year and are awarded for their dedication to implementing sustainability at their schools.

The ceremony was held at Workshop 17 at the V&A Waterfront and provided a beautiful space with breathtaking views of the harbour as well as Table Mountain. This truly created a welcoming and prestigious atmosphere for teachers and award winners.

The delegates that were invited along were our very special teachers along with several supporting partners of the Sustainable Schools Programme, namely, Save Our Seas, Captain Fanplastic, I Am Water, Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation, Ingcungcu Sunbird Project and Code 4 Kids. These partners have enhanced the programme in various ways by assisting our registered schools via resources, nature experiences, lessons etc.

Each school was assessed based on a report they submitted, documenting their project progression, whole school involvement, integration of environmental topics into teaching time, connect to nature experiences and many more criteria. Each school was then awarded either 0, 1,2 or 3 stars based on their overall performance. Our top schools included Mondeor Eco School, Pinelands High School, Sweet Valley Primary School, Spineview Primary School among many others.

Prizes and awards were either sponsored by partner organisations and we would like to thank the following for generously sponsoring awards for each school, these include: Cape Nature, Two Oceans Aquarium, TriToad Nursery, The Beach Co-Op, Eco Tanks, Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, Earth Child, Greenpoint Park and the City of Cape Town.

Lastly, one very special addition to the agenda for the day included teachers from selected schools to present their schools progress and the various activity ideas which have been implemented throughout the year. Schools which presented included Westville Primary School, St Mary’s RC Primary School, Mondeor Eco School, Stephen Road Primary School, Mseki Primary School and Bergvliet Primary School. Their presentations and testimonials inspired many teachers to expand and implement new ideas at their own schools.