With 45 teachers and 330 students from 1st to 7th Grade, Vanse Primary School is a small school located in Vanse, a village on the Lista peninsula in the southwest of Norway. The school is nestled among beautiful natural areas, with access to the sea, wetlands, and other hiking areas. The Lista wind farm is also near the school.
Despite their smaller size, Vanse Primary School truly embraced their Alcoa W5 project, turning it into a whole-school activity that went beyond the five original W5 themes (Warming-Waste-Water-Watts-Wildlife) by adding Wind and World! With seven grades and seven themes, Vanse Primary School launched their Sustainability Week, with each grade focusing on a theme.
The Sustainability Week was officially launched on World Environment Day with speeches from the principal and students and smoothies for everyone made from surplus fruit donated by the local grocery store. A representative from FEE Norway was also able to attend. Throughout the week, each grade participated in different projects and activities:
The 1st Graders learned about Water, including the plastic problem in the ocean. They also did a beach clean-up and created an art piece out of the plastic waste they found.
In 2nd Grade, the students focused on Waste by doing a litter pickup in the town, and visiting the municipality’s waste disposal facility to learn about what happens to the waste, and the importance of waste sorting.
The 3rd Grade worked on wildlife, learning about biodiversity and the importance of bees, and building a large insect hotel which now stands in the schoolyard.
The 4th Grade took on the bonus theme of Wind, creating a functioning model of a city supplied with energy from windmills that they built. They also got to go visit the nearby wind farm and learn about wind power!
In 5th Grade, students focused on Warming (climate change) by visiting the municipality’s bioenergy power plant to learn about renewable energy, making model greenhouses and calculating their CO2 footprint from being driven to school. In the end, they encouraged the whole school to start walking or cycling to school.
The 6th Graders worked on the other bonus theme of World where they learned about the connection between consumption and waste and the global consequences it entails. The students interviewed people in Vanse and visited a second-hand shop, getting to work with reused textiles and redesigned clothes.
Lastly, the 7th Grade focused on Watts and the idea of an energy-efficient society of the future, by designing and presenting sustainable and energy-efficient homes built with sustainable materials and supplied with renewable energy.
The Sustainability Week ended with a visit from Farsund's mayor and municipal director, who were impressed by the work done by the students. The mayor invited the Eco-Committee to visit the City Hall to talk about their experience during the Sustainability Week at Vanse Primary School.
This Alcoa W5 project is a great example of how an entire school and the wider community can get involved in supporting sustainable initiatives. As one teacher expressed, "It feels good that all grade levels are working together on a common theme. It is unifying for students and staff." While students in each grade learned about specific themes, they also learned from one another and different members of their community about the seven Ws!
The Alcoa W5 project of Vanse Primary School supports the following SDGs:
