At a small Melbourne school, PE teacher Ms Marita Ryan is leading a hands-on sustainability program that’s empowering students, engaging the community, and winning recognition.
In the rapidly developing western suburbs of Melbourne, nestled in a pocket near Sunshine, sits Albion Primary School – a modest campus of just 200 students.
While small in size, the school is making a big impact thanks to the leadership and vision of one teacher: Ms Marita Ryan, a part-time physical education teacher who recently won the 2025 ResourceSmart Teacher of the Year Award in the primary category.
Her journey, however, didn’t begin with sustainability in mind.
“I was mostly looking for activities to energise our student leadership program,” Ms Ryan explains. But a chance meeting in 2019 with a ResourceSmart Schools representative at a local network event triggered a transformation – one that would eventually see Albion Primary become a five-star certified sustainability school and a celebrated model for hands-on environmental education.
“When I first heard the presentation on ResourceSmart Schools, I realised we were already doing a lot of it – we just hadn’t documented any of it,” she says.
That simple realisation set a domino effect in motion. With the support of principal Ms Adrienne Williamson, the school signed up to the program and began the process of uploading utility bills and backdating data – a time-consuming, but necessary first steps for any school embarking on the five-module ResourceSmart certification process.
The momentum truly picked up during the COVID-19 lockdowns. With her teaching hours significantly reduced, Ms Ryan saw an opportunity. “I asked the principal if I could use my time to document our sustainability practices, collect photos, and work on the modules,” she recalls. “That was the turning point.”
By mid-2024, Albion Primary had completed all five modules – core, waste, biodiversity, water, and energy – earning the coveted Five Star ResourceSmart School accreditation. That achievement was celebrated with a gala afternoon attended by local dignitaries, parents, Sustainability Victoria representatives, and Brimbank City Council members.
“We showcased all the hands-on activities the students had done. Classroom teachers were learning from their students on the day. It was a community celebration,” Ms Ryan says.
What sets Albion apart isn’t just ticking boxes or uploading data – it’s the hands-on, student-led learning approach that Ms Ryan has embedded into the curriculum. With the principal’s approval, she introduced a weekly sustainability lesson, where each class engages in outdoor, inquiry-based learning.
“Our kids absolutely love it,” she says. “We collect water from the local creek to test for aquatic bugs, we do waste audits where students sort rubbish from our bins, and we even go birdwatching with binoculars.”
These lessons serve a dual purpose: fostering student agency and generating real-time data for their sustainability modules.
The impact has been transformative. The school community has rallied, with parents returning for working bees – some of the first in decades – and students taking genuine pride in their environment.
One of the most visible symbols of Albion’s sustainability journey is its biodiversity mural: a massive bottle-cap artwork displayed on a former shipping container that had long been a magnet for graffiti. Designed by students and representing everything from birds to worm farms and veggie gardens, the mural encapsulates the school’s ethos.
“It drove me mad at the time,” Ms Ryan laughs, “but now it’s a legacy piece. You look at it and see everything our students believe represents biodiversity.”
Albion Primary’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. In addition to the ResourceSmart recognition, the school won a 2025 Sustainability Award from Brimbank City Council.
“We were the only school nominated. To win was such a surprise – but a wonderful one,” Ms Ryan says.
Perhaps most impressive is how sustainability has become a school-wide culture. Ms Ryan says the school has applied for and received several Landcare Australia grants, leading to projects like installing nest boxes, setting up night cameras to track local fauna, and planting trees from seedlings provided via partnerships with local organisations, including a nearby women’s prison.
“We’ve built a network,” she says. “Greater Western Water, Brimbank City Council, prison programs – they all support us because they can see we’re doing real things with the kids.”
Lessons for other schools
Although Albion is located in metropolitan Melbourne, it still retains a community feel often found in rural schools. Ms Ryan, who grew up in a country town, says much of her teaching philosophy stems from her own upbringing.
“I always tell the students, 50 years ago, when I was in primary school, there was no plastic. We’re just going back to those values – taking pride in your surroundings, not stepping over rubbish, caring for nature,” she says.
“A lot of what we do now at school – bird watching, gardening, picking up rubbish – is just what I did as a kid. And the students absolutely thrive on it.”
Ms Ryan says Albion’s small size, rather than being a limitation, has enabled greater community engagement and individual ownership. Families are deeply loyal – many choosing to stay even after moving suburbs.
“We’ve had kids leave and then come back because it’s a special place. There’s a sense of belonging.”
Many staff members have been at the school for decades, and next year, the school will celebrate its centenary.
For Ms Ryan, sustainability isn’t a subject – it’s a way of being. “The yard has always been my classroom,” she says. “From day one, I put buckets and tongs out there so students could pick up rubbish – not as a punishment, but to take pride in their space.”
Achieving five stars in the ResourceSmart program is just the beginning. Every four years, schools must undergo re-accreditation to maintain their ResourceSmart status. Ms Ryan is already preparing biodiversity documentation to meet the next deadline.
She is quick to acknowledge that the ResourceSmart Schools portal can feel daunting at first.
“It can be overwhelming when you look at the portal and see everything you have to do,” she admits. “But once you start, it all starts to click. It’s about chipping away – and networking helps.”
Her advice to other educators? Start with what you already do. “Document what’s already happening. Build slowly. Apply for small grants. And above all – make it fun. Kids learn best when they’re doing,” she says.
“It’s a domino effect. The more you do, the more support you attract.”
