Birchgrove Public Primary School wins Veolia Environnement
“Tales Around the World” 2007 global school competition

 

 Birchgrove Public Primary School in Sydney (NSW)  submitted the winning Australian entry for the “Veolia Tales Around the World” 2007 global school competition, sponsored by Veolia Environnement. The school has won the grand prize – an all-expenses paid trip to Paris, France, for two students and their teacher, as well as a SMART Board® interactive whiteboard.

“Veolia Tales Around the World – Life Stories of People with Nature” is the fourth international environmental awareness campaign for children aged 8 to 11 years, organised by Veolia Environnement, a world leader in environmental solutions, in relation with the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation). More than 64,000 children from five continents and 26 countries participated in the 2007 edition, which focused on the relationship between people and nature.

Children were asked to create a sketch of a mask and write a story highlighting the importance of the links between people and nature. The winning Australian artwork and text have been sent to France, where alongside winners from 25 other countries, they will be displayed as part of the official Tales awards ceremony and the exhibition, launched on 1 June 2007 at the new Quai Branly Museum in Paris. With the assistance of Air France-KLM, the winning teacher and two students travelled to Paris courtesy of Veolia Environnement, to join other winning students for a week-long celebration.

Ms. Renee Gare, teacher of winning class 5/6G, said: “My students worked in two teams, one designing the mask and the other writing the Earth’s story. I was thrilled when I learnt that their creative efforts were recognised in such an exciting way. The students were all very interested in the project from the very beginning and worked hard to incorporate ideas and designs from all class members in a very cooperative way. The most rewarding aspect of the challenge was that all students were included and felt very proud of their work…. The interactive whiteboard and the tickets to Paris are just a great added bonus”.

Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies CEO, Mr. Laurent Gaborit, said: “Veolia Environnement was pleased to sponsor the programme again this year with the support of the UNESCO, to give Australian schools an opportunity to help raise awareness of environmental issues for future generations. The Veolia Environnement team would like to offer their congratulations to Birchgrove Public Primary School for their exceptional entry. We wish the winners a wonderful trip to Paris.”

The culmination of the campaign occured at the official lunch of the exhibition of all the childrens artworks at the Musee de Quai Branly in Paris on Friday the 1st of June.

To find out more about the campaign: www.veolia.com/globe

Renee Fry, Veolia Environmental Services
renee.fry@veolia.com.au, tel. 02 8571 0109