Schools & Early Learning

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Penrith City Council (02) 4732 7777 (02) 4732 7958 council@penrithcity.nsw.gov.au 601 High St Penrith NSW 2750 Australia
Schools & Early Learning

Greening our City = Cooling the City

Heat is a challenge that impacts all of Australia and is particularly challenging for Western Sydney. Penrith Council has compiled a list of resources to help teachers explore this complex challenge with their students. These resources are from organisations from across Australia and some contain information specific to Penrith.

Download the Greening our City: School Resources Pack and the Tree-mendous Tree Facts and A4 Poster that go along with one of the drawing activities.

We plant trees for a variety of reasons. There is a lot of research highlighting the benefits of planting trees. Some of these benefits include:

  • Improving air quality and filtering pollutants
  • Filtering stormwater runoff
  • Protecting biodiversity (our wildlife and flora)
  • Improving mental health and wellbeing.

As part of this project, we are encouraging local schools and educators to explore urban heat islands and the important role that trees play in protecting the community.

Penrith and Hawkesbury Environmental Educators Network

PHEEN is a network for people who work with students and other school aged youth in the Hawkesbury and Penrith regions, and have an interest in sustainability and the environment. It provides an opportunity to network with other like minded people, get inspiration, hear about helpful resources, learn about professional development opportunities, and connect with local environmental education centres, community groups, and councils. PHEEN meets each quarter, we email out a quarterly newsletter and other information when it comes available. If you'd like to learn more about PHEEN or keep in touch, please contact us on 4732 7732  or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

One Tree Per Child – teaching resources for early childhood centres

Teaching  resources for early childhood centres

OTPC is a program developed by Jon Dee, former Australian of the year and founder of National Tree Day and supported by Olivia Newton-John, Kevin McCloud and Costa Georgiadis as ambassadors. Its aim is to “enable as many children as possible to plant a tree and see it grow in their town or city”.

In 2016, Council in collaboration with OTPC delivered thousands of trees to families with children in local childcare centres.

As part of the program, a series of curriculum resources were developed: