Over half of primary schools join push to save water in Yarra Valley Water’s service area
Led by expert facilitators, the school incursions feature fun, interactive activities that teach students where water comes from, why it matters and how they can help to save it.
Since launching in 2022, the program has reached 250 primary schools, more than half of those in Yarra Valley Water’s service area, with many more still to come.
Yarra Valley Water Managing Director Natalie Foeng said the program was an effective way of teaching students how to sustainably manage water.
“The Water Watchers program introduces water saving messages with the help of fun intergalactic aliens. It’s helping raise a generation of students who understand what a precious resource water is, and know how to use it wisely,” she said.
“It has been great to see how eager schools have been to embrace the incursions. We couldn’t have achieved these results without their support.”
Yering Primary School was one of the most recent schools where an incursion was held.
Teacher Brenda Bailey said the Water Watchers visit had been a valuable experience for the students.
“We were pleased to have the program come to our school,” she said.
“The students were really engaged. There were a lot of activities and the instructor did a great job of getting the students to discuss water and different ways of saving it.”
Ms Foeng encouraged other schools in the Yarra Valley Water region to join the program.
“We have now reached over 40,000 students through the program and we’re keen to reach even more, with feedback from participating schools being overwhelmingly positive,” she said.
“With hotter, drier weather and a growing population putting pressure on our water supplies, it’s important to teach children water-saving habits now to conserve water into the future.”
Teachers in the Yarra Valley Water service area can book an incursion and find out more at: www.yvw.com.au/water-watchers-education