By Mikayla van Loon
Lilydale Heights College (LHC) has gained a dual nomination in the 2025 ResourceSmart Schools Awards seeing students and teachers buzzing with excitement.
The College has been nominated for both School of the Year and Teacher of the Year in the secondary categories, with sustainability leader Shannon Sargeant up for the prestigious award.
“It’s been quite a shock to be honest. It was enough for me to know that the principal team thought I deserved to be nominated, but being a finalist is just wonderful,” she said.
“There are so many teachers and support staff across the state who are doing valuable work in the program and it’s really special to be selected.”
LCH has been working towards a five-star ResourceSmart rating for a number of years but Ms Sargeant said there has been a greater push from the school in the last three years.
In 2023, this was first recognised with the school winning the Curriculum Leadership category.
Since then, Ms Sargeant said being onsite permanently has allowed her to introduce new curriculum, audits, professional learning and build the sustainability team “enabling them to run school wide learning programs and activities”.
Not only that but the Eastern Alliance for Sustainable Learning (EASL) took over the management of ResourceSmart Schools in the area, seeing facilitator Cindy McFarlane be “the most incredible support person”.
“I can’t thank her enough for the guidance she has provided me and the team over the past few years,” Ms Sargeant said.
LHC is now a three-star school, making it eligible for the School of the Year nomination, but Ms Sargeant believes the finalist nomination “may be due to the connections we have made across all year levels”.
“I am really proud of the cross curricular units we have at Year 8 and 9 between Science and Humanities focusing on solutions to ocean plastic waste and climate change.
“We have litter, waste and biodiversity audits embedded in the Year 7 and 9 curriculum so they are completed every year. Teachers have entwined sustainability across other faculty areas as well, including re-use art projects, reducing waste in all technology subjects and as a topic for persuasive writing in English.
“Vocational Major students have also embraced sustainability with the nesting box program they initiated last year.”
The focus this year is all about energy, it’s conservation and improvement across the school campus.
“An energy audit has already been completed by the Year 10 physics class and will be the theme for Sustainability Week that aligns with World Environment Day.
“Our Business Manager is also investigating how we can increase the number of solar panels in the college.”
Ms Sargeant said the engagement and encouragement seen across the student cohort propels herself and the rest of the staff forward in continuing to pursue the best sustainability practices.
“For me it is all about the students. I love working with them to see their ideas come to life,” she said.
“Climate anxiety is real, but the way our sustainability students know that solutions are there and that they, as the younger generation, have the will to make positive change is truly inspirational.”
Four representatives are preparing to attend and present at the June awards ceremony, something Ms Sargeant said is also an amazing opportunity for the students to see how other schools approach sustainability but mostly they are “chuffed at the nomination”.
Around the region, Wandin Yallock Primary School is a finalist in the Container Deposit Scheme Vic (CDS Vic) Excellence Award (Primary) while Croydon Hills Primary School is hoping to take out the title of Campus Infrastructure and Operations School of the Year.
There are 31 schools vying for an award in Victoria’s largest celebration for primary and secondary school students, teachers and school volunteers taking sustainability action.
This year, Sustainability Victoria is marking 16 years of the ResourceSmart Schools Awards with the theme, ‘Working Together’.
“We can achieve so much more when we work together, whether that’s with other students, other schools, other teachers, or the wider community beyond the school gate. By working together, our efforts combine to build the future we need,” Sustainability Victoria regions and community action director Katie Pahlow said.
