This year has been amazing. So many fun events.
Term 3 saw the celebration of Children's Day for Enviroschools. 16 children taught other children how to make Weta Houses. So impressed with their enthusiasm and ability to teach in such a short period of time. They were calm, relaxed and well spoken. Loved seeing them share their learning to help others learn.
Photos of mokomoko (skink) flooded my cellphone last term. I'd been working with a class and their teacher on how to identify skink. 2 eager students found some so the task was set to identify them. (A reminder that skink should stay in their area). We checked the doc website to see if we could spot the diamond on the head, which would identify them as the Copper Skink, a NZ native. We tried our best but will have to try again another day.
Friday, 6 October 2017
Wednesday, 22 February 2017
Environmental Education
It's always fun to be in the garden exploring new and exciting environments. This week I've had the pleasure of working in 2 schools. Both are preparing for the Pumpkin Carnival and both have different challenges to overcome.
At one school, convolvulus over took the pumpkins over the holidays and so a new source of pumpkin plants had to be found. At the other school, the pumpkins grew however someone took off the pumpkin and has been cutting the flower heads off. Either way, the children are not deterred from growing or from entering the event.
At one school a small team of 2 are trying to recruit their friends for more manpower and thinking. At the other school, a team of 20 - 40 turn up once a week. Either way, both are a privilege to work in.
As I sat in the garden at lunch watching the Monarchs, seeing the seeds disperse in the wind and talking about Monarchs are flicky bugs (name yet to be sourced) an excited and eager to learn student continued to be inspired and both of us are looking forward to another day in the garden.
At one school, convolvulus over took the pumpkins over the holidays and so a new source of pumpkin plants had to be found. At the other school, the pumpkins grew however someone took off the pumpkin and has been cutting the flower heads off. Either way, the children are not deterred from growing or from entering the event.
At one school a small team of 2 are trying to recruit their friends for more manpower and thinking. At the other school, a team of 20 - 40 turn up once a week. Either way, both are a privilege to work in.
As I sat in the garden at lunch watching the Monarchs, seeing the seeds disperse in the wind and talking about Monarchs are flicky bugs (name yet to be sourced) an excited and eager to learn student continued to be inspired and both of us are looking forward to another day in the garden.
Monday, 13 June 2016
Working Collaboratively
Throughout the year, we work collaboratively with other gully restorers. I find it a great help as I build up my knowledge, hear expert advice and continue to build a network of experts who can help me. I love learning and hearing about new projects to take part in. All this helps to inspire the children and get them thinking creatively.
In March I met with one of the local gully restorers, Rex Bushell. I wanted to see what he was doing in his section of the Mangaiti Gully and to see how I could use his knowledge to further improve what we were doing.
Rex was a fountain of knowledge and full of passion for Mangaiti Gully. He pointed out a range of wildlife species and plant life and my head was full of ideas. How could we help?
It wasn't long till Rex made contact with an offer and I took one of the classes to help his team with their gully floor plant out. The children had a blast. 500 holes dug and harakeke planted in 1 1/2 hours. The children loved making new friends and sharing their learning.
You can read more about the result here;
http://gullyrestoration.blogspot.co.nz/2016/06/rototuna-primary-school-enviroschools.html
In March I met with one of the local gully restorers, Rex Bushell. I wanted to see what he was doing in his section of the Mangaiti Gully and to see how I could use his knowledge to further improve what we were doing.
Rex was a fountain of knowledge and full of passion for Mangaiti Gully. He pointed out a range of wildlife species and plant life and my head was full of ideas. How could we help?
It wasn't long till Rex made contact with an offer and I took one of the classes to help his team with their gully floor plant out. The children had a blast. 500 holes dug and harakeke planted in 1 1/2 hours. The children loved making new friends and sharing their learning.
You can read more about the result here;
http://gullyrestoration.blogspot.co.nz/2016/06/rototuna-primary-school-enviroschools.html
Tuesday, 31 May 2016
Releasing the Frogs
What great excitement we had last week. 3 classes went down into the gully to release 2 Golden Bell Frogs into the gully. They were no longer tadpoles and the class had finished observing their changes. It was now time to release them into their new home, the gully. 3 eager classes of students, went down to watch their release. It was a real pleasure to pick them up, have them sit on my hand, as I walked them over to the grasses and release them.
I know we are all eager to see tadpoles in the stream next year, hear the songs of the frogs and watch them hop around.
What a marvellous sight it will be.
I know we are all eager to see tadpoles in the stream next year, hear the songs of the frogs and watch them hop around.
What a marvellous sight it will be.
Feeding the Ducks and Birds
Thanks to 2 loaves of mouldy bread the children had a great time today. They got to break tiny pieces of bread of each slice and throw it around the gully to attract the birds and ducks. What great joy it gave them to throw the bread around. It was a pleasure to see them share it with each other and wait to see the birds arriving. Looking closely, they could see them flying around the trees, happy to be fed.
Wednesday, 25 May 2016
Writing
Writing is a fun way to get children to share their learning, ideas and to help them to encourage others to learn a new skill.
Recently in writing I have been taking children on walks around the school to help with their motivation. This week we walked around looking and exploring autumn leaves. We also walked around the school talking about native plants, exploring the parts of a plant, the purpose of a plant and looking at the differences between the plants.
During one of these lessons the children started exploring what was under their feet; sand, mud, worms, grass and how it felt. Cultural awareness came into play as I tried to encourage a boy to take off his socks. I was quickly told that in China they had to wear shoes everywhere. Once the children started to relax, they quickly enjoyed the sensations and what they felt. They started to explore all the wildlife around them.
During the inclass part of the session, the children excitedly ran up to inform me that a pukeko was wandering past the windows. This caused great delight as the pukeko has been missing from the grounds in the past few years.
Today they ran and found me and told me that they saw the pukeko today, walking past their door. Their teacher videoed it so that could write about it.
A few weeks ago, I took a class into the gully. We were checking on our tracking tunnels and exploring what we could see, hear, smell and feel. The children wrote the most brilliant pieces of writing when they got back to class. One boy was so excited about what he was writing he followed me around the class wanting to share his work. He then shared it with his mum that afternoon.
It was a huge delight to share this classes writing with the Enviroschools Co-ordinator. She was most impressed with their efforts and the variety of ways they wrote. Their work will be on display for all to see soon.
It is great to see the children getting out and exploring the natural environment as a motivation for writing. I love seeing them share what they can see and feel and using writing to encourage others to get out and explore the world.
Recently in writing I have been taking children on walks around the school to help with their motivation. This week we walked around looking and exploring autumn leaves. We also walked around the school talking about native plants, exploring the parts of a plant, the purpose of a plant and looking at the differences between the plants.
During one of these lessons the children started exploring what was under their feet; sand, mud, worms, grass and how it felt. Cultural awareness came into play as I tried to encourage a boy to take off his socks. I was quickly told that in China they had to wear shoes everywhere. Once the children started to relax, they quickly enjoyed the sensations and what they felt. They started to explore all the wildlife around them.
During the inclass part of the session, the children excitedly ran up to inform me that a pukeko was wandering past the windows. This caused great delight as the pukeko has been missing from the grounds in the past few years.
Today they ran and found me and told me that they saw the pukeko today, walking past their door. Their teacher videoed it so that could write about it.
A few weeks ago, I took a class into the gully. We were checking on our tracking tunnels and exploring what we could see, hear, smell and feel. The children wrote the most brilliant pieces of writing when they got back to class. One boy was so excited about what he was writing he followed me around the class wanting to share his work. He then shared it with his mum that afternoon.
It was a huge delight to share this classes writing with the Enviroschools Co-ordinator. She was most impressed with their efforts and the variety of ways they wrote. Their work will be on display for all to see soon.
It is great to see the children getting out and exploring the natural environment as a motivation for writing. I love seeing them share what they can see and feel and using writing to encourage others to get out and explore the world.
Tuesday, 24 May 2016
Gully Restoration
On the 12th, 13th, 16th and 17th of May all the children at school took part in the Gully Transformation Project. Each year, every child in the school plants a native plant in the Mangaiti Gully along the Shirley McKay walkway.
Every class takes part in a session on planting, the history of the school's involvement in the restoration, the types of plants we are planting and why. They also learn about what plants need to survive and the planting process.
This is a fabulous time of year and it is great to see all the staff and children involved and enjoying themselves.
This year started with a blessing over the land and plants and a karakia by the school Te Reo group.
We had guests from Trees for Survival, Enviroschools and parents all coming to take part.
The children were delighted to see and hear a range of wildlife throughout the week. A frog was caught, the cats were wondering around, the Tui and Grey Warbler were singing in the trees.
On the final day, there were 2 Tui singing in the trees around the gully. What a wonderful thank you.
The kids have been running around excited this week about the return of the Pukeko that are walking around the school grounds again. "It is working," and "It is flourishing," are their excited words.
Every class takes part in a session on planting, the history of the school's involvement in the restoration, the types of plants we are planting and why. They also learn about what plants need to survive and the planting process.
This is a fabulous time of year and it is great to see all the staff and children involved and enjoying themselves.
This year started with a blessing over the land and plants and a karakia by the school Te Reo group.
We had guests from Trees for Survival, Enviroschools and parents all coming to take part.
The children were delighted to see and hear a range of wildlife throughout the week. A frog was caught, the cats were wondering around, the Tui and Grey Warbler were singing in the trees.
On the final day, there were 2 Tui singing in the trees around the gully. What a wonderful thank you.
The kids have been running around excited this week about the return of the Pukeko that are walking around the school grounds again. "It is working," and "It is flourishing," are their excited words.
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