Flinders Farm wins national sustainability award
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Matthew Flinders Anglican College has been awarded The Educator Australia’s 5-Star Sustainable Programs Award 2024 for being “a shining example of effective sustainability education in action”
Matthew Flinders Anglican College (MFAC) has been awarded The Educator Australia’s 5-Star Sustainable Programs Award 2024 for being “a shining example of effective sustainability education in action”.
Flinders is one of just six schools in Queensland, and one of 25 schools across Australia, to receive a 5-Star Sustainable Programs Award 2024, and to be recognised among “forward thinking and innovative schools, leading a movement to conserve natural resources and create a greener future.”
“Year 9 Agricultural Science students Neve Fleming and Barkeley Gibbons said that the hands-on farming has taught them much about caring for the soil and sustainability.
“In Agricultural Science, I have learnt about keeping soil healthy through cover cropping, which enables the sequestration of carbon into the soil, improving both the quality of the Earth’s atmosphere and decreasing its carbon dioxide levels,” Neve said.
“It is important to learn about sustainability since our generation is more subject to climate crisis than any other has been before.
“Due to this, it is our responsibility to look after the planet and implement regenerative agriculture practices which will preserve our environment moving forward.”
“I found the Regenerative Agriculture topic in class really interesting because it is the process of crops and farms working with the surrounding environment that gets the best of both worlds, as it keeps the land and crops as healthy as possible at the same time,” Barkeley said.
“It is important for young people to learn about sustainability through a farm like the MFAC one because nothing beats hands-on educational activities made for us to see what we are being taught in class first-hand, and it also gets us outside and connected to our local environment.”
The Educator Australia’s 5-Star Sustainable Programs initiative aims to influence more schools and communities to equip young people to be lifelong environmental stewards in their communities.
Flinders Principal Michelle Carroll said it was wonderful for the College to be recognised for being at the forefront of sustainability and environmental education programs.
“Flinders is delighted to be awarded The Educator’s 5-Star Sustainable Programs Award 2024 and to be recognised as one of the leaders in embedding sustainability into school culture,” Ms Carroll said.
“Our aim is to empower our students to understand their place in the world and build the skills, confidence and capacity to have a positive impact in their communities.
“Through our Flinders Farm and a range of curriculum and co-curricular programs, our students are learning how to act responsibly and respectfully to nurture and protect the planet for future generations.”
Flinders Principal Michelle Carroll said it was wonderful for the College to be recognised for being at the forefront of sustainability and environmental education programs
Flinders also won the award for its commitment to sustainability education across the campus, including the regeneration of its half-hectare Flinders Farm, which includes a 900m2 citrus orchard, 500m2 of vegetable beds, 14 beehives, chickens, a compost-making facility and a biofertiliser-making facility.
The College’s new podcast, At the Bell Tower features a conversation between Ms Carroll and Flinders Farm Manager Jeff MacLennan about the farm.
Under the expert guidance of Farmer Jeff, the Flinders Farm has become a vibrant, hands-on environmental education hub for the College’s more than 1,400 students, from Prep to Year 12, as well as the Flinders Early Learning Centre community.
The College is also committed to sustainability as a key part of campus operations and development, such as through the Flinders Masterplan suite of new facilities and has one of the largest school solar installations across Australia.
At Flinders, students explore environmental sustainability, recycling, biodiversity, food sovereignty, composting and chemical-free agriculture through a range of innovative hands-on curriculum programs and co-curricular activities.
Along with the Flinders Farm and its fortnightly farmer’s market on campus, there are opportunities to learn and get involved through the College’s design thinking curriculum programs, the environment club, community service-learning events, such as local beach clean-ups, and cultural exchanges and conferences through the Round Square network.
Farm Manager Jeff MacLennan said that Flinders is meeting rigorous criteria and applying holistic principles in its farming endeavours.
“At Flinders we encourage our students to go one step further than sustainability and embrace a mindset of regeneration: the underlying question for students is, ‘What can you do that will improve things for those who come after you?’,” Mr MacLennan said.
“Particularly in Agricultural Science, a charter for the Flinders Farm has been developed according to holistic thinking principles.
“In short, each major decision has to meet social, ecological and financial criteria before being implemented.
“Our Year 9 Agricultural Science program is a thrilling opportunity for more than 20 students to be involved in a working farm and explore regenerative agriculture through practical projects and innovative approaches.
“Students thrive in learning how to make compost and compost teas from waste collected on campus, develop biofertilisers using a commercial worm farm, make biochar from green waste and explore the use of animals to enhance soil carbon.
“The wonderful outcome is that our students really take ownership of how the Farm performs, which is key in engaging student interest and empowering future generations.”
Finders Year 9 Agricultural Science students learning in the award-winning Flinders Farm in 2024
Head of Curriculum at Flinders Bill Hooper said the farm’s growing strength and impact have enabled the College to introduce a new agri-business fusion course in 2025.
“Next year, an additional 20 students in Year 9 will have the opportunity to learn how to grow produce and then take it to ‘market’,” Mr Hooper said.
“Students will explore such steps as branding, identifying target audiences, marketing, goal setting and budgeting.
“We also have all 140 Year 7 students learning on the farm during their Biology strand of Science.”
Students enjoy the experience of learning on the farm in an old shed, which was refurbished in 2021.
The farm classroom has roller doors on either side that open to let the students experience the sights and smells of life on the farm.
Ms Carroll said that the College is also committed to sustainability as a key part of campus operations and development through the Flinders Masterplan.
“Our new state-of-the-art Infinity Centre, which opened in January 2024, was built with industry-leading sustainability features,” she said.
“Flinders has one of the largest school solar installations across Australia, with more than 1,784 solar panels installed.”
The Infinity Centre’s sustainability features include solar panels providing more than 146kW of power generation capacity, bringing the total capacity across the College campus to 642kW.
The College’s solar generation per day is the equivalent of powering 95 average family homes per day.
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