WESSA Schools Programme Impact Report 2020

Lilyfontein School

Brakfontein, Eastern Cape

Lilyfontein School is nestled in rural Brakfontein, in the eastern reaches of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. Catering for just

over 700 learners from preschool to Grade 12, our school incorporates environmental programmes into its innovative curriculum.

OUR JOURNEY Lilyfontein School became part of the Eco-School programme in 2006 and we are now in the fourteenth year of our journey as one of the longest standing Eco-Schools in the Eastern Cape. Eco-based education and eco-conscious practices have become a core part of the school’s ethos. Over the years the school has initiated and maintained action projects that remain integral parts of the school’s infrastructure and curriculum.

OUR PROJECTS

a waste-wise Eco-School.

an Eco-School Diamond Decade Award and have hosted WESSA conferences for prospective Eco- Schools. We have even been able to showcase our eco-based curricula features at provincial geography teachers’ conferences. We hosted the Global Elephant and Rhino March in 2014. It was another honour to be voted one of the top five Eco-Schools in the country, and represent the programme at the international conference in Johannesburg in 2016!

One special feature at Lilyfontein is the eco-classroom constructed by the learners using eco-bricks. Our learners leave this school with eco- living having become part of their being and ethos. Through a variety of outdoor education programmes, adventure based learning and various action projects over each year, learners at Lilyfontein have been exposed to the options of green, sustainable ways of living. It is these lessons that they take home and hopefully integrate into their daily lives. OUR ACHIEVEMENTS Lilyfontein has received a number of accolades and accomplished some really great achievements over the years. The school has achieved

The Permaculture Garden, which was initially a hidden away little veggie patch, has developed into a large, two-zoned area. The garden now boasts a fully-fledged eco-education space and permanent raised beds, which learners tend and nurture during weekly classes. One of the school’s winning formulas has been finding a way to get every learner involved in environmental action at every phase of school. Lilyfontein’s recycling system has developed over the years from picking through paper in a small room to a fully functioning recycling centre that processes tonnes of waste each year. The recycling programme generates funds for the school and we proudly consider ourselves to be

We have been one of the top three schools for the last three years in the Buffalo City ‘Call To Action Recycling

Campaign’, winning with a collection of 7.5 tonnes of recycling in 2019.

Lilyfontein is incredibly proud to be part of the Eco-Schools programme, which has inspired this little school to do big things.

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