St. Monica’s College has been crowned campus infrastructure and operations school of the year at the 2025 ResourceSmart Schools Awards.
Held at the MCG and hosted by TV personality Costa Georgiadis, Victoria’s largest sustainability celebration had 10 of 31 finalist schools walk away with honours.
But it was St Monica’s that stood out for its transformation of an unused sports pitch by Darebin Creek into a vibrant wetland teeming with life.
Led by their student action team, EnviroFriends, the school breathed new life into the area–recreating habitats for endangered species of the Victorian Volcanic Plains Grassland ecosystem.
Frog saunas, fish hotels and net boxes were just some of the creative constructions used to encourage biodiversity.
The judging panel praised the students for their strong collaboration with a broad range of external organisations, councils and businesses noting that it had enriched students’ learning experience and built skills in environmental monitoring.
A five-time finalist, St. Monica’s has consistently been recognised for its efforts, winning in both the curriculum leadership and student action team of the year (Secondary) categories in 2024.
This year, teacher Ben Coleman was also shortlisted for secondary teacher of the year.
The school’s latest win reflects more than a decade of steady progress in weaving sustainability into everyday school life– not just through projects, but through partnerships and student-led initiatives that aim for long-term impact.
The 2025 ResourceSmart Schools Awards celebrated schools taking action on energy, waste, water and biodiversity.
