2016 - What an amazing introduction to Enviroschools in North Taranaki!
It has been a privilege working with so many passionate students, teachers, principals, whānau and community groups this year. Your hard work and dedication to this important kaupapa is inspiring -thank you!!!
Kia tau ngā manaakitanga ki runga i koutou katoa. Have a great holiday and a Merry Christmas.
Rachael Ruakere
Enviroschools North Taranaki Facilitator.
All over the nation BNZ banks were closing their branches for good. Closed For Good is BNZ’s annual day of volunteering, and more than 3000 pairs of hands were sent to help a variety of places doing a range of jobs. Bank staff have lent their helping hands to more than 2500 projects around the country over the last seven years.
To get some of Closed For Good’s help causes submit their project and then bank employees vote for the projects they want to help. The ones with the most votes are picked and UrutiSchool was chosen. Bank staff arrived at Uruti School at 9.30am and got stuck in to work. Bank staff member Peter Hilliam told the students that they had decided that Uruti School was good place to go and spend the day. The workers were doing all sorts of jobs including painting, gardening, water blasting and building.
’’We really enjoy coming to the community and helping. We got away from the desk,’’ said Karen Goldsworthy.
Some of the students’ parents also came to help.
Uruti children were pleased with the finished product and hoped to be part of the Closed For Good programme again next year.
Uruti school is finally an Enviroschool, we are all very excited and we want to share some of the actions we have already taken. We have made some changes in our gardens and we want to share our Kiwi project.
Here are some facts about our school. Our school is in North Taranaki and we have two teachers, 16 kids and two classrooms. We even have our own school motto, stand tall and discover. (By Isabella and Macy).
Back in march 2013 Uruti school started the Kiwi protection group, when they heard that 95% of Kiwi chicks die before they reach 5 months of age. We have been running it since 2013 now it’s 2015. The kids enjoy protecting the Kiwi with the community.
We now have over 100 stoat traps up Uruti road and on our farms. Each person has a responsibility to check the stoat traps every month and to help out. They also leave the kiwi data in the bucket, then when the children arrive at school they get the data out of the bucket and put it on the computer. We give the person who helped to check the traps a thank you call.
We have just won an award from the Taranaki Regional Council (By Ryan and Jarhlia)
The main predators are stoats, cats and dogs and many others predators.
We planted flax to stop debri falling into the river and causing banks to erode. Our river splits the farmland from the school’s property and we have been working to help the environment with cleaning the air by planting some trees. We get our trees from ‘paper for trees’ each school is asked to record their paper and cardboard recycling throughout the year and get a tree for an award that they can plant. (by Katie)
In our extremely lovely garden we have a variety of vegetables. When it’s time to pick them we cook them into yummy food! We cook the food ourselves but the teachers are with us when we cook. Then when the food is ready to eat we give the school children the same amount of the food we cooked. Every child compliments the food we cook.
We are planning to plant an orchard, we have got some fruit trees, here are some fruit trees in the orchard; passion fruit, grapes, lemons and mandarins. Here are some of our veggies we've got in our garden; beans, kumara, cucumber, carrot, corn, lettuce and strawberries. (By Jayden and Korbin)
Thank you for reading one of our first blog posts and we hope you stay to read more...
Created by Jarhlia, Ryan, Isabella, Macy, Korbin, Katie and Jayden
Enviroschools Taranaki is proud to congratulate Koromiko Kindergarten and Uruti School for winning a TRC Environmental Award 2015. The Taranaki Regional Council Environmental Awards recognise outstanding initiatives in our region to protect and enhance Taranaki’s high-quality environment.
Koromiko Kindergarten — for fostering education for sustainability and respect for the environment
The children and families of Koromiko Kindergarten learn to respect and care for the environment through many daily activities. Since 2004, the kindergarten has had a philosophy of Kaitiakitanga or guardianship of our environment and to develop children’s understanding of the environment and model sustainable behaviour.
Families take part in many activities. The aim is to educate the children and their families on environmental issues through activities at the kindergarten and to encourage change at home. Children are encouraged to reduce, reuse or recycle material – for example litter-less lunch boxes and composting.
Nature is a prominent feature of outdoor learning and activities which involve trees, insects, animals and birds, and flower and vegetable gardens. Children also learn healthy eating.
Uruti School — for working with the community to control predators and protect local kiwi
In March 2013, Uruti School students began the Kiwi Protection Project after hearing kiwi calling from the bush in the area. Students learned how pest animals are a major threat, with 90% of kiwi chicks dying in the first six months.
They decided to help local kiwi by controlling predators such as stoats and ferrets. Senior students recruited local community members to help them set up, then regularly check, more than 100 stoat traps on 24 properties along 8.5 kilometres of local roads.
The students’ enthusiasm drives the collaboration with parents, neighbours, the wider community and the Taranaki Kiwi Trust, which provides the traps. As well as raising environmental awareness and understanding, the project benefits kiwi and biodiversity.
Welcome to one of our newest Enviroschools. Uruti school are already well involved in sustainable practices and regularly cook delicious meals to share with the community from their well kept garden. We look forward to hearing the fabulous progress they are making in creating a sustainable school community.
