Message from the Educator

WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING?

Kumeroa School's Agri-School

Kumeroa School have 'agri' school every Thursday, where students are able spend time working on different projects which are important to them. The students are working with the QEII Trust to help look after their local reserve, Awapikopiko Reserve. Together with one of our freshwater team, I met the students at the reserve and talked about what native fish might live in the streams and how we can test the water quality of the stream. When the weather is more settled the students are keen to do a water quality study and set some fish traps to see what native fish live in the pools within the reserve. I also met with the pest tracking and trapping group, where they made chew cards and tracking tunnels to put out in the reserve as they are looking to set pest animal traps in the future.

New Animal Pest and Invertebrate Education Resources

Horizons now has two new education resource kits available. We have class kits available on animal pest tracking and trapping and exploring invertebrates in the environment. These are available for loan, with or without Educator support. If you are interested in any of these activities, or other biodiversity activities please contact me.

Animal Trapping and Tracking

More schools are becoming interested in teaching their students about animal pests and how they can get involved in the Predator Free 2050 initiative. There are two activities are available on this topic; the first focuses on methods to identify animal pests. The students look at how tracking tunnels (to look for animal footprints) and chew cards (to identify animals by their teeth marks) are used. Some or each are then baited and set out in their school grounds. The second session looks at the results of the tracks left and 'chews made' then discussions are had about the different types of humane traps which can be used and how the school could set up a trapping programme. So far two schools, Halcombe School and Mount Biggs School have had classes take part in both of these activities.

Investigating Invertebrates in the Environment

Another activity which can be done in the school grounds, local park, or native bush, is to investigate the invertebrates which live under the rocks, inside decaying wood, and in leaf litter. This is a great one to do if you are doing an inquiry around habitats and ecosystems. This kit uses some for the resources from DOC’s Experiencing Invertebrates in your Green Space. I ran an activity with students from Dannevirke South School recently looking at what invertebrates they could find in their nature school area. After a discussion on what makes good bug habitat, the students searched in all these damp, dark places for any bugs they could find which were brought back for identification. We then talked about what they eat, what eats them, and how they fill an important role in an ecosystem.

SPOTLIGHT ON

Inaugural Wero Student Conference

In a first for our Region, students from the Enviro-Group at Enviroschool Palmerston North Girls High School (PNGHS) ran a wero student conference for other secondary schools in the Manawatū and Rangitīkei Districts. The aim of this conference was to bring together students interested in environmental issues. 45 students from four secondary schools (both Enviroschools and non-Enviroschools) attended. They heard from a range of speakers, made reusable bags from old t-shirts for op shops to use in place of single use plastic bags, and spent time in their individual school teams planning action to take in their own schools and communities. The PNGHS Enviro-Group were really pleased with how the conference ran, and the resounding feedback from attendees was that they would like to attend another student conference again next year. Great work PNGHS, congratulations on a successful conference.

Bumper Holistic Reflections

Congratulation to five Enviroschools who held holistic reflections in Term 3. Holistic reflections are an integral part of the Enviroschools journey. They enable each Enviroschool to pause, take stock of how far they have travelled on their Enviroschools journey, celebrate their successes with their community, and their plan next steps. The 'level of reflection' reflects the breadth and depth of the Enviroschools journey. Bulls Kindergarten, Puddleducks Montessori Preschool, Love and Learn Care and Education, and Parkland Kindergarten all reflected to the bronze level, while Mount Biggs School reflected to silver. It was great to see different sustainability practices being embedded throughout each school/centre grounds and their curricula.

Waste Audit with Tamariki from First Years Learning Centre

First Years Learning Centre in Whanganui have recently joined the Friends of Enviroschools network. The Centre already has some good waste reduction practices in place, where they recycle and have a worm farm for food scraps. However, they decided to conduct a waste audit with my help to see where they could improve. The results showed that their main waste came from paper towels and disposable nappies. The Centre have already decided to invest in small flannels to use in place of paper towels and are talking to Enviroschool Love and Learn Care and Education, who are successfully using cloth nappies in their Centre. Waste audit kits are available so contact me if you would like to borrow one.

Celebrating all Things Environmental at Ross Intermediate

Ross Intermediate School have been an Enviroschool for a few years now and have a vibrant Enviro-Group who worked on their school vision for sustainability. However, all that changed when the number of students wanting to be part of the group increased. They decided to launch the Enviro Academy giving more status to this group and so allowing more students to join. Earlier this term, I attended a celebration event with other invited guests who had contributed to enhancing their kaupapa, to share with them on their environmental journey so far. Ross Intermediate’s Maara Kai was blessed and now there is no stopping them!

IDEAS