Message from the Educator

WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING?

SPOTLIGHT ON

Inaugural Enviroschools Regional Road Trip

The end of term two brought us our first regional Enviroschools event. 51 teachers from 23 Enviroschools from across region travelled to the Manawatū District to see what two Enviroschools, one urban and one rural, do to empower their students to take action on sustainability issues. The day began with a mihi whakatau, led by Manchester Street School’s, Mātauranga Māori Group. The attendees were then taken on a tour, led by students, looking at different sustainability projects. The Enviro Kids are the ‘thinkers’ of the school who organise the class Enviro-jobs such as a ‘Power Rangers’ team whose job each lunchtime is to go around the classrooms and check lights, computers and teaching stations are all switched off. The teachers then travelled on to Kimbolton School and heard from the FIGS (Forest and Insect Guardians) group who have undertaken lots of weed and animal pest work in Kimbolton Reserve. Back at the school the students shared how they make beeswax sandwich wraps, and then took the group on a tour of the schools grounds taking in their solar panels, vegetable gardens and growing unit. Feedback from teachers was overwhelmingly positive, taking lots of ideas back to their own Enviroschools.

Enter our #plantinourregion Competition

Did you know that every winter Horizons, with the help of community groups, iwi and landowners, plant hundreds of thousands of trees across the region? Well this year we decided to share what we do as part of our winter #plantinourregion campaign. This campaign covers everything from why we plant in winter to the targets we aim to meet, to why it’s important to plant the right tree, in the right place, for the right purpose. For more information on this, check out July’s edition of Across the Region. 

There is also a competition linked to this campaign. We want to see what planting you’re undertaking this winter – from a community planting day to planting in your garden or on your property. Take a selfie, use the hashtag #plantinourregion, tag it with your location and post it on one of our social accounts to go in the draw to win a $1,500 plant related prize. This prize will be the winner’s choice and can range from donating plants to your local school or community group, planting on your property or even out enjoying our trees via a bush walk somewhere in the region. See our website for Terms and Conditions and enter as many times as you like. Entries close 24 August 2018.

Schools were major recipients of Horizons Community Grants

Lots of schools in the region were successful in their applications for this years’ Horizons community grants programme. In 2012, this fund was established to support community groups, schools, early childhood centres and iwi/hapū groups, with projects that enhance the region’s natural resources and encourage more people to engage with the natural environment. Of the 12 successful recipients, six of these were school/early childhood centres whose projects ranged from native plantings in their schools grounds to funding animal pest monitoring. This funding stream opens around early April each year, so think about what environmental projects you have planned for this year and have a look at the eligibility criteria to see if you might qualify. 

Results of the Enviroschools Census 2018

Many of our Enviroschools completed the National Enviroschools Census at the end of 2017. This snapshot captured what our Enviroschools, have been doing nationally over the past year.  A huge congratulations to all our Enviroschools for the great mahi they are doing. Here are some of the key results: 

All Enviroschools are engaging in a range of actions including environmental, social cultural and economic sustainability.

88% of Enviroschools are connecting with other organisations in their community such as councils, iwi, landowners, business' etc.

81% of respondents said that Enviroschools positively influenced the sustainability of their physical environment.

72% believe the Enviroschools programme has a substantially positive influence on interaction with family/whanau and the wider community.  

You can read more about these results here. If you want more information on how your school could join the Enviroschools programme, contact the Regional Coordinator.

St John’s Hill Renew their Green-Gold Enviroschools Status

Another huge congratulations goes to staff and students at St John’s Hill School who celebrated their Green-Gold review. They have been an Enviroschool since 2009 and have embedded a wide range of sustainability practices into all of school life. Their celebration day began with a pōwhiri followed by a guided tour for special guests, around the school to see what gives them the Green Gold tick of approval. Throughout the day children and teachers were involved in a wide range of activities promoting sustainable actions such as tree planting, cooking kumara harvested from the school’s gardens, making jute carry bags and wax lunch wraps.

IDEAS

Conservation Webinars through the Science Learning Hub

DOC have partnered with the Science Learning Hub to deliver four free, interactive teacher PD webinars on the ‘in the environment’ resource series. 

If you want to be kept updated on Conservation Education resources, you can sign up to their e-newsletter.

Biosecurity Week 2018

It is Biosecurity Week so a great opportunity to talk your students about our animal and plant pests. Environment Southlands has a great resource on exploring weeds with children in their latest ‘Enviroteach’ newsletter.