Seedsaving at Stratford High

Jayne Bright from Taranaki Seedsavers visited Jodie Sullivan and her Stratford High students to discuss seedsaving and how to set up a seed bank.  The students were knowledgeable, motivated and engaged in the discussion and learnt lots about food security, types of pollination and the importance of labelling to ensure the seed history is preserved.

Jayne demonstrated how to extract the seed once it had dried and students selected seed from the Taranaki Seed bank to grow in their impressive garden area.

It was inspring to see the depth of thinking and sustainable practices that are happening at Stratford High - we look forward to seeing your progress as you have a go at saving your own seed and starting a seedbank! 

Impressed at Puketapu

The Enviroschools team had the privilege of visiting Puketapu Kindergarten recently and wow what an amazing environment! 

Enviroschools is an integral part of their identity and their plans and community focused vision are evident everywhere you look.

Maori Perspectives ~ Ngā Atua are an integral part of the environment with plentiful opportunities for children to interact with nature and it’s rich resources.

Waste systems are well established and user friendly!

With a flourishing garden area, native garden track and orchard...

A stunning example of what the Enviroschools Kaupapa can achieve!  

Students with a Vision at Matapu

Exploring Me in my Environment

Students at Matapu are busy creating a vision map for action in their environment.  They have lots of ideas for changing and improving their school including; decorating, planting food, planting for bees and birds and fixing up some areas they have identified around their school. 

Posing in the garden

One of their major projects of late has been planning and redesigning their garden area. To make this idea reality their next step is thinking of ways to fundraise the money needed. 

Plans for a nature trail and pathways

Kapai Matapu school - it was great to visit and see all the fabulous effort you are putting into your environment. 

Making Paper Bricks at Frankleigh Park Kindergarten

Spotty's World of Wearable Arts

During terms two and three, all years 1 - 4 students learnt all about wearable / recyclable arts. The end goal was a fashion parade where whanau and the community were invited to see all the amazing creations.
Each class chose a particular focus and the brief was to use as many recycled resources as possible. Themes included; circus, rangatira, pasifika, native americans, robots, under the sea, super heroes, balloon magic, minions, lego and more.
All the creations looked amazing and it was great seeing all the recycled and repurposed 'rubbish' that was used to construct the masterpieces.
Check out more photos on our school website.
http://www.spotswoodprimary.co.nz/gallery/28/

Spotswood Primary Students Showcase Learning Through Their Own Scenic Reserve

Spotswood Primary Students Showcase Learning Through Their Own Scenic Reserve

During terms One and Two, Spotswood Primary School students learnt all about scenic reserves; in particular, Rotokare. They have been learning about different methods of pest control, the wide variety of native birdlife at Rotokare and our native flora and fauna.

To finish off the study, they decided to turn their school hall into their very own scenic reserve. Students put on a fantastic display of their learning in the form of artwork, stories, multimedia presentations, information brochures, haiku tunnels and many more. All displays were centred around a stream with a walking bridge over top and stepping stones, flowing from a waterfall. For visitors it felt like they were part of a scenic reserve oasis.

The whole school spent a day at Rotokare, in their outdoor classroom, learning about pests and predators, native birdlife and their habitats, the pest-proof fence and exploring the sanctuary. Students were involved in a wide range of hands on learning experiences, teaching them how they can help eradicate pests and look after their environment.

The follow on from the Rotokare experience led some students to enlist the help of the school property manager and Taranaki Regional Council to help eradicate pests around our school such as possums, rats and mice.

The organising committee reported that ‘We were delighted with the number of whanau and community members who came to support their tamariki. The sharing of knowledge between the students and their parents was rich and exciting. Over all it was a great success.’

Community were invited to view the expo and we were thrilled to have visitors from Marfell and Ngamotu Kindergartens as well as Jump Start Preschool. To view photos from the expo, go to www.spotswoodprimary.co.nz.

 

Woodgroup 'helping hands' at Kahikatea Kindergarten

Wood Group Training is a proud sponsor of Enviroschools, supporting children and young people to plan, design and implement sustainability actions that are important to them and their communities. As part of our commitment to this program, members of our team took part in a working bee held at Kahikatea Kindergarten in New Plymouth, last Friday 28th August. Our team helped the kindergarteners build a ‘mud kitchen’ using left over wood pellets and assisted with maintenance of their composting station and preparations for a new veggie patch.

“Social Responsibility is one of Wood Group’s seven core values” says Kerry Martyn, General Manager at Wood Group Training. “We are pleased to be partnering with Enviroschools to support young people in creating a sustainable future for themselves.”

We all had a great time getting our hands dirty (safely of course) and look forward to partaking in more great sustainability initiatives implemented by members of the Enviroschools program in the coming months.

To read more about Wood Group Training and their sustainable actions visit their website:

http://www.woodgrouptraining.com/news/supporting-young-people-create-sustainable-futures