CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

Cummins backs children’s charity

Ardoch is an Australian children’s education charity that focuses on supporting disadvantaged children and the belief that every child’s potential should be fully realised through full participation in education.

Ardoch closely aligns with Cummins’ own corporate responsibility strategy pillars of education and equality of opportunity. Over the past few years, Cummins has developed its partnership with Ardoch through sponsorship and employee engagement. Despite a challenging year for community engagement, Ardoch delivered myriad in-person and online programs to support learning for 20,253 school students across Australia.

Cummins had the privilege to provide support for Ardoch’s Numeracy Buddies, Broadening Horizons – STEM, and Robotics programs, which were delivered to five schools identified by the Australian Government as being disadvantaged. Robotic Tech Boxes supported 200 students and gave four teachers opportunities for professional development. The program develops coding, engineering and problem-solving skills through implementing age-appropriate robotics kits and tech boxes. Teamwork and collaboration skills were developed, alongside an understanding of how student-developed solutions and existing information systems can meet common needs.

A survey found 89% of students said they sought help from teachers, volunteers or friends during robotics lessons and 66% of teachers said the most impactful part of the robotics program was using equipment they had not used before.

Above and below: Students from Cranbourne West Primary School experience virtual reality during a Dream City excursion.

Numeracy Buddies matched students with workplace volunteers to collaboratively solve maths problems through an online blog. Student maths skills were enhanced through verbalising key concepts and understanding how maths can be applied in different jobs and workplaces. Interaction with a positive working role model encouraged students to build aspirations. The program was a fantastic opportunity for collaboration between school students and Cummins volunteers, including a virtual school visit at the end of the program that students and volunteers alike found very rewarding.  Thank you to Suan and Claire for organising and guiding the team at Cummins Scoresby

through the Numeracy Buddies program in 2021. The program was a resounding success despite the challenging circumstances faced.

Your persistence with managing the program and nudging the teams as and when blogs were due was greatly appreciated. The session this morning was fantastic – Zoe and Bec did an amazing job, they kept the crowd engaged and energy levels high.

Christian Almeida | Finance Transformation Champion 

In a teachers’ survey, 100% agreed Numeracy Buddies improved student social skills in asking questions and responding to adult mentors. Broadening Horizons – STEM engages students in STEM inquiry through science-focused incursions and excursions. In 2021, 133 students were supported to attend programs with Wildlife Xposure and Dream City. The Broadening Horizons – STEM program focuses on applied learning and cultivating students’ curiosity and engagement.  Brandon (Facilitator, Wildlife Xposure) was incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about

native wildlife and this was extremely evident in his presentation. He was able to engage all 26 of my grades 3/4 students for the full hour. I don’t believe I could specifically narrow it down to one memorable moment as the entire incursion (via Zoom) was amazing.

- Teacher, Cranbourne West Primary School  A survey found 53% of students said they can imagine themselves working in a job in the future that involved a lot of science or maths. Jobs the students named included marine biologist, mechanic, astronomer, palaeontologist, teacher, vet, electrician, zookeeper, doctor, paramedic, coder, architect and builder.

Overall, there were many positive outcomes for all Ardoch participants in 2021 and Cummins is proud to continue its partnership in 2022. Thank you to all the participating employees from Cummins and Ardoch and to the partner schools. We look forward to being part of the next round of student programs in 2022.

HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT

Sun shines on solar in Australia

Australia has exceptionally high levels of peak sun hours across the country. At least four hours of typical peak sunlight is recommended to justify installing photovoltaic solar systems, which makes almost every place in Australia ideal for solar power. Cummins has begun harnessing this opportunity by installing solar panels in our facilities at Mackay, Pooraka, Mount Gambier, Wetherill Park, Newcastle, Scoresby, Kilsyth and Laverton.

Number of sunshine hours across Australia

One of our 2030 environmental goals is to reduce absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from facilities and operations by 50%, the scope of which includes indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy. According to our data, on average a solar system reduces electricity consumption by around a third per branch, which will significantly reduce GHG emissions.

Installation of photovoltaic solar panels.

The impact of solar panels can already be seen with just over 30% GHG reduction across Australia since 2018. Other factors have contributed to the reduction, including differences in site occupancy rates and increased awareness of energy efficiency. Regardless, solar panels will continue to be key contributors for securing our 2030 goal going forward with their positive impact already being felt across Australia.

Solar system installed at Laverton.