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Save the Taylor River Now

The Taylor River: Feeling the Love!

Blenheim students have been loving their river lately: learning about it, connecting with its natural spaces and raising awareness about how we can all take care of it. Whether you visit it as a way to get safely from A to B, to exercise your dog, to enjoy the sunshine during your lunch break or to teach your child to ride their bike: the Taylor River is a much-used and enjoyed part of Blenheim.  As well as being a popular spot for recreation, the river is valued for its important role in flood protection, serving as a conduit for stormwater during rainfall events.  It is home to a variety of native and introduced freshwater...

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Stream Study_Banded Kōkopu

Summer Stream Studies

Term 1 has seen plenty of students getting out of the classroom and into a nearby river or stream to learn about healthy waterways. Students from the Home School Co-operative Learners group investigated Pukatea Stream as part of a day out at White’s Bay. They were impressed with the amount of life in the stream, especially the large banded kōkopu found in a shady pool. They got to see the kōkopu’s jumping ability first hand as it leapt from the container and wriggled back to its watery home. Tamariki were concerned that they didn't find any kōura - the group has found lots of them in this stream in the past. Maybe they were...

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Freshwater education Marlborough

Freshwater Education Programme for schools

Explore and learn about Marlborough's freshwater habitats with Marlborough District Council's Freshwater Education Programme. Take a look at the sessions on offer through MDC's Freshwater Education Programme. These sessions are available free-of-charge to Marlborough schools and can be tailored to meet your needs. Contact Anna Crowe to discuss your requirements or to make a booking. ...

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Blenheim School care code

Blenheim School unveil Taylor River Care Code

Students and staff of Te Kura o Waiharakeke | Blenheim School proudly unveiled their ‘Taylor River Care Code’ sign in November. The sign, which has been over a year in the making, sits beside the Taylor River near the John Street footbridge. Developed by the Envirogroup and their Enviroschools Lead Teacher Tracy Holdaway, the care code sets out how the whole community can help the tamariki take care of this special awa. It features beautiful artwork drawn by the students and reflects the special relationship that the school has with the awa that flows right beside it. Many students pass the river each day on their way to and from school, and tamariki regularly pick...

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Garden design at Whitney Street School

Garden design challenge at Whitney Street School

Whitney Street School students are redesigning their Kids' Edible Gardens and taking the chance to learn some of thedesign principals used when building a new garden. It’s tempting to rush in to build a new garden, however not all plants like the same position. The site needs to have enough sunny spaces for sun-loving vegetables while providing shade and shelter for those that like a cooler, sheltered spot. Crazy shapes can look good but are they easy to get to and around with a wheelbarrow full of tools? Will your irrigation reach all parts of the garden? Where will you put your tool shed, workbench, worm farm or compost heap? How can you encourage beneficial insects...

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Enviroschools on camp at Pine Valley

Enviroschools on camp at Pine Valley

Term 4 is traditionally a great term for getting out-of-doors and into the bush or stream, especially if you are on camp! At Mill Flat in Pine Valley, Anna and Angela have been working as a team so that students are able to study the diversity of life in the river and in the bush surrounding it as part of their camp activities. Mill Flat is the perfect location to explore our wonderful diversity of native insects, animals, freshwater life and plants. Adult (winged) Stenoperla Stenoperla (aquatic) nymph One of the insect species living in Pine Valley Stream is the endemic large green stonefly ‘Stenoperla’. Its presence in the awa...

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Witherlea School Envirogroup

Working with Envirogroups

Our Environmental Education team have been enjoying the opportunity to work with some of our Marlborough school envirogroups this term. Witherlea School’s 'Green Ninjas' have been meeting each week to explore what sustainability initiatives the school already has in place, and to create a map of where these things are happening.  They are now exploring how they can gather ideas from the rest of the students, plus teachers, support staff, whānau and the wider school community to develop a whole school vision for enviro at Witherlea. They are practising some fun activities to help everyone think about how they would like their school to be, and students will share these with teachers at a staff...

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Waikawa Bay Silver Reflection

Waikawa Bay School Reflect at Silver

Students at Waikawa Bay School lead an enthusiastic reflection this term and all that attended decided that the school was, without doubt, a Silver Enviroschool! The school’s vision for Enviroschools is ‘Living and Learning the Waikawa Way: Immersed in our natural world, watch us grow and make a change!’. Students at Waikawa Bay School are certainly immersed in their natural world. Senior students check, clear and rebait the trapline every other day, and record their catch data to measure their impact. Students take part in ‘bush school’ every week: learning and playing at and in their local beaches, rivers and forests. All students spend time planting, weeding, harvesting and learning in the edible gardens....

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Enviroschools Action Fund

Funding for student-led action projects

Have an action project in mind, but need some funds to make it happen? The Enviroschools Marlborough team have a small annual fund to help schools take action in the environment. It is as simple as sending an email to Annie (annie.mcdonald@marlborough.govt.nz) with information about what your students want to achieve, how much it will cost, and how the money will help them.  We might email you back with a few questions if we need more details, but normally it's a quick and easy process. For more possibilities for funding projects big and small, take a look at our 'funding' padlet: https://padlet.com/EnviroschoolsMarlborough/funding.  We'll continue to update this as new opportunities become available.    ...

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