Environment,

Health & Citizenship Primary Education Programme

Dawasamu Hub Achievement Report January 2016
During 2015 GVI have worked across two rural primary schools in the Dawasamu District to deliver awareness
lessons on waste management and environmental sustainability. The aim of these lessons is to provide the
students with the knowledge and skills to become the future environmental leaders in their community. In 2016
GVI have been working on collating these lessons and resources to create accessible teaching packs for use in
primary schools. The long-term objective is to build a programme of 90 lessons, with a focus on Environmental
Education, Health and Citizenship to compliment the existing curriculum. These lessons will be aimed primarily
at students between the ages of 11-14 in years 6, 7 and 8 with topics expanded and developed as students
progress through the year groups.

Teaching Schedule
Term 1
Environment
Year 6
Waste Management: Recycling, natural and manmade materials, air, water and
soil pollution, reduce, re-use, recycle
Year 7
Marine Conservation: Ecosystems and habitats, marine creatures and conservation,
human impact, problems and solutions
Year 8
Sustainability the 3 pillars, Environmental, Social, Economic. Global Resources
modules (forests, water, wind, mining) Life choices (carbon footprint). Big Issues.
Petitions, letter-writing, campaigns.
Term 2
Health
Year 6
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: Safe water supply, composting toilet, personal
hygiene, hand-washing, tooth-brushing, clean spaces
Year 7
Being me: Sexual and reproductive health, relationships, gender, feelings, feeling
blue, basic mental health, identity, pride in individuality, acceptance of others.
Year 8
Healthy Bodies, Healthy Lives: Exercise, nutrition, further hygiene, further mental
health, healthy habits, drugs and addiction
Term 3
Citizenship
Year 6
Culture and Difference: Diversity and difference, cultural studies, pride in
individuality, acceptance of others, race, religion, values, and being thankful
Year 7
Citizenship: What is a good citizen? Caring for others and working together. Making
decisions. Looking after the village, the district and Fiji. Good values, politics and
voting, rural vs. city life, charity, volunteering.
Year 8
Global citizenship. The UN, human rights. Big Issues: Human food supply, peace and
conflict, poverty, equality, waste disposal, increasing population, disease. How to
campaign about issues you care about. Petitions and letter writing.
Currently the GVI Environmental Education, Health and Citizenship lessons are delivered in collaboration with
PE, Music and Art lessons. The PEMAC lessons provide a platform for the students to explore creativity and
participate in physical activity. Alongside the PEMAC activities the lessons also target key topics from the school
syllabus to consolidate the childrens existing classroom learning in science, geography and social education
subjects. In this format the Environmental, Health and Citizenship topics are explored holistically and with
special attention to specific vocabulary that the students need to master in English.


A programme of 10 lessons focusing on Waste Management is now complete and teaching packs have been
created that contain the relevant lesson plans and resources required enabling teachers to easily deliver learning
outcomes. These lessons aim to focus on the knowledge and behaviours associated with caring for the
environment and incorporate a variety of different learning styles. Children are given the opportunity to become
researchers in their own environment by testing materials to identifying man-made versus natural, assessing litter
levels in the school compound, making a working water cycle and creating their own class compost. Practical
activities are supported by worksheets that reinforce key learning outcomes and allow children to practice and
test knowledge.
Air pollution causes and effects

The Term 1 program is currently being trialled with Classes 6, 7 and 8 at Navunisea District School and Dawasamu
District School. Students have shown enthusiasm for the subject matter and have responded to the interactive
format of the lessons. Once the trial is complete and final edits have been made, the lesson packs will be
published electronically for sharing with other organisations and schools in Fiji.