St Mary’s RC Primary School has been named Most Sustainable School in the Western Cape as part of Nature Connect’s Sustainable Schools Programme in 2025 . The recognition was announced at the Sustainable Schools Western Cape Rewards Ceremony, held in Cape Town on 28 February 2026, which marked the final event of the national rewards roadshow.
This award recognises St Mary’s RC Primary School for its long-term commitment to sustainability, strong whole-school participation, and culture of consistency.
Long-term engagement
What makes St Mary’s RC Primary School’s achievement especially encouraging is the school’s long-term commitment. The school has been part of the Sustainable Schools Programme since its inception in 2021, and its recognition as the Western Cape’s top school reflects steady progress built over time.
That progress has been shaped by passionate teacher leadership, regular participation, and a clear willingness to keep learning, growing and improving year after year.
Despite being a low-fee-paying school and facing ongoing challenges in securing support and resources, St Mary’s has remained committed to its sustainability journey. The perseverance, consistency and determination shown by teachers, learners and the school community alike make this recognition especially well deserved.
Grounded, practical learning
At the heart of the Sustainable Schools Programme is the belief that environmental learning should be practical, relevant and connected to everyday realities. St Mary’s RC Primary School reflects this strongly through a wide range of learner-led, curriculum-linked and community-connected actions.
Over the years, the school has shown sustained engagement across several focus areas, including Production, Consumption & Waste and Community & Social Responsibility.
One of St Mary’s long-standing strengths has been its active and well-structured Eco-Club, made up of Grade 6 and 7 learners who meet weekly and lead a range of sustainability initiatives. These include recycling drives, clean-ups, Spekboom propagation, and peer awareness activities that help build learner leadership and shared responsibility across the school.
Supported by partners including PolyCo, the school has also developed a comprehensive recycling system and, last year, received a new recycling centre to help formalise and strengthen its recycling efforts even further.
Recognising excellence across the province
While St Mary’s RC Primary School received the province’s top recognition, other Western Cape schools were also acknowledged for strong sustainability action in specific focus areas. These included Pinelands High School for Biodiversity, Parkwood Primary School for Health & Well-being, Silvermine Academy for Energy & Climate Action, St James RC Primary School for Marine & Coast, and Sweet Valley Primary School for Water & Sanitation.
Additional awards recognised progress and learner leadership. Bel Porto School was acknowledged for Best Progress by a New School, Harmony Primary School was named Most Improved, and John Graham Primary School was recognised for its outstanding Eco-Club.
Launched by Nature Connect in 2021, the Sustainable Schools Programme supports schools across South Africa to integrate Education for Sustainable Development into everyday teaching through a structured Plan–Do–Reflect approach, professional learning, and partnerships that support lasting impact.
For more information, visit https://beta.sustainableschools.natureconnect.earth
