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Kia ora koutou,
Spring has arrived and with it some challenging weather conditions, which unfortunately meant some of our outdoors events had to be postponed or cancelled.
If you're after a fun family day out, be sure to check out the Tōtara Reserve Whānau Challenge Day on Sunday 19th October and register a team to enter.
This term, we’re also offering teacher workshops focused on water quality monitoring and native plant propagation. If you're keen to learn and grow your skills, mark the dates in your calendar and send us an email to register.
Mā te wā Sarah & Christina
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Restoring Piriharakeke
We were proud to support Save Our Rivers Trust (SORT) and NZ Landcare Trust Junior Landcare Legacy project at their working bee to clear fennel and other weeds from Piriharakeke Walkway in Foxton.
This was a big job for rangatahi from Manawatū College and Coley Street School who came to help prepare the site for planting with native species next term.
You can read more about his story on SORT’s website
Native seed propagation workshops
To kick off our next round of professional development workshops for teachers, one of our community biodiversity advisors ran two workshops on native seed propagation.
Over 40 teachers from schools and early childhood centres attended the workshops held in Taumarunui and Palmerston North, to learn about seed preparation and sowing, how to propagate with cuttings, and division, where mature plants are divided into multiple smaller plants. One of the key takeaways is that these fundamental principles can be used for all plants, not just natives.
ENVIROSCHOOLS
Additional Funding Available
Interested in the Enviroschools programme?
Two of our funding partners, Horowhenua District Council and Manawatū District Council, have funding available to bring more schools/centres into this kaupapa. If you are keen to learn more, get in touch here.
Tino pai 💚
All about waste
Over the past two terms, teachers from across Feilding and Horowhenua have come together in two inspiring Enviroschools workshops focused on waste minimisation and sustainable practices.
In Feilding, educators gathered for a Zero Waste Cluster session, diving into the Enviroschools Zero Waste theme area booklet, which is a great resource to get ideas from and use with tamariki for sustainable learning. The workshop featured a guest speaker from Smart Environmental, who shared insights into recycling systems in the Manawatū region. Teachers exchanged ideas on how to embed zero waste principles into their environments, with many expressing interests in exploring other Enviroschools theme areas in future sessions.
Meanwhile, in Horowhenua, approximately 20 teachers attended a ‘re-visiting waste’ hui. The workshop was co-facilitated with the solid waste team from Horowhenua District Council, who we partner with in delivering the Enviroschools programme to schools/centres in the district.
Teachers shared their current waste minimisation practices and the challenges they face in setting up waste diversion systems in their school/centre. They also learnt how to conduct a waste audit and use this to measure whether their waste minimisation systems are working
Across both events, educators valued the opportunity to connect with peers and council staff, gaining practical knowledge and discovering new ways to strengthen sustainability in their centres, and learning what support is available.
A school production with a twist
Enviroschool Bunnythorpe School have been doing an inquiry around pest animals and wanted to share their learnings with their community. They did this in an extraordinary way by putting on a school production. ‘Guardians of the Bush’ was an amazing performance of how pest animals are having an impact in our forests, where student leaders took up the challenge to track what pest animals they had, and set up a pest control project to take action. This included a human-sized pest trap.
Tamariki did an amazing job on stage singing and dancing, while telling the audience about what actions they can take to be guardians of the bush.
Ka rawe Bunnythorpe!
Pat Kelly Enviroschools Action Fund
We’re proud this year to support 18 of our 118 Enviroschools with grants from our Pat Kelly Enviroschools Action Fund towards sustainability projects.
From kai gardens to water conservation projects, these initiatives empower young environmental leaders across our region.
You can read more about what projects were funded here
Manchester Street School received funding in 2024 to build traps for their Ngā Kaitiaki Taiao Predator Free Project
IDEAS & RESOURCES
Join us for a fun filled family day of challenges and win prizes.
Register your team today - Up to four people for just $5 (your team can consist of a family or a group of friends you decide)
Participate in 10 team challenges for the day including activities such as identifying pest animal tracks, native trees and packing a grab bag and more
Enjoy a free sausage sizzle lunch provided by Awahou School
Free bus transport available - Hop on from Palmerston North, Feilding, or Ashhurst, just select your pickup location when registering
Spot prizes will be scattered throughout the day
Team awards for top performers, best photo and more
Free bus transport is available from Palmerston North, Ashhurst and Feilding. To book and find out more head here
