2011 Winners

For the first time since it commenced in 1995, all 3 National Finalists’ entries in the $10,000 National Schools Competition have shifted focus – we all know we need to recycle, but what’s the point, if companies don’t use the waste we gather by using it in their packaging?

So while presenting the range of activities required to create a sustainable future, the students focussed attention on those manufacturers and brands who use our waste to produce their packaging, and by inference, those who don’t and who instead, just add to the waste and landfill problem with their ‘virgin’ packaging.

Most importantly, all winners’ entries relentlessly reinforced the behaviour changes we all must make to achieve a sustainable future – particularly our manufacturers who import foreign packaging, and in so doing, export Australian jobs.

Phil Enright, National Coordinator of the Australian Recycled Cartonboard National Schools Competition said, “The achievement of the students is exceptional. The creativity and scale of their entries to effectively communicate the key messages was beyond that of many professionals. The commitment of our finalists, Home Hill and Windaroo Primary Schools and Bundaberg North State Primary School and their dedicated teachers, is essential to sustain community pressure to keep industry expanding its use of recycled waste in the packaging they use.

“It is with great pleasure, as well as the $10,000 cheque for the winning school, this year we are able to meaningfully acknowledge the extraordinary contributions of teachers like Kathy Templemen supporting her students’ winning efforts, with a $2,500 Grant for Professional Development.”

In making the announcement, Enright went on to say, “Again it shows any school can win, and regional primary schools and their communities usually produce the most outstanding outcomes.

“These students had to compete against all the highly resourced private and metropolitan secondary schools across Australia. They again demonstrated that there is no substitute for the kind of community commitment we see every day in regional Australia.”

The ‘team’ of students who produced the winning Bundaberg North State Primary School entry are;

Dyllan Bonner	Celine Broome	Joanne Broome
Jamie Chambers	Byron Dean	Mathew Devaliet-Burnie
Issiah Harrington	Liam Hunt	Brendan Rose-Schofield
Curtis William

The judges also highly commended the efforts of ‘Runner’s Up’, Home Hill Primary School, and Windaroo Primary School.