The 2026 ResourceSmart Schools Awards celebrate sustainability leadership and innovation across Victorian schools, recognising the students, teachers, volunteers and communities driving positive environmental change.
Under this year’s theme, Our sustainable community, the awards highlight the power of collaboration, shared learning and local action in creating a more sustainable future.
Two DOBCEL schools have been recognised as finalists in the 2026 awards, celebrating innovative and student-led approaches to sustainability in school communities.
Siena Catholic Primary School has been named a finalist in the Campus Infrastructure and Operations School of the Year category for its creative response to reducing single-use plastic waste.
After students identified the large amount of waste created through Zooper Dooper fundraising sales, one student proposed an alternative solution – replacing the icy poles with snow cones served in reusable cups. The idea quickly gained momentum, with staff, families and students working together to implement the initiative.
The project not only reduced waste but also maintained fundraising income and demonstrated the powerful role students can play in driving meaningful environmental change within their school community.
Meanwhile, St James Catholic Primary School has been recognised as a finalist in the Curriculum Leadership School of the Year category for its whole-school approach to sustainability education and environmental stewardship.
Through a student-led regeneration project, the school rewilded areas of the grounds to create a habitat corridor and outdoor learning space known as Our Common Home. The initiative connected learning across science, mathematics, English, history and First Nations perspectives.
The school has also established a sustainability community of practice with neighbouring schools, enabling students to collaborate on environmental projects and planting days. This work led to participation in the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Raising Rarity Schools Conservation Program, where students became custodians of the endangered Leucochrysum albicans subsp. tricolor daisy.
These finalist nominations reflect the creativity, leadership and commitment of students, staff and school communities in bringing sustainability to life through authentic learning and action.
Winners will be announced at the Awards Event held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday 11 June 2026.
Congratulations to both schools on this outstanding achievement.