General Archives - Enviroschools Marlborough

September 25, 2026

Waitaria Bay School – Everyday Kaitiakitanga & Solar Learning in the Sounds

Waitaria Bay School welcomed Angela and Sarah in Term 3 for a full day of sharing, exploring, and celebrating the incredible environmental mahi they carry out as part of everyday school life. The visit offered a rare glimpse into the depth of their ongoing projects. Including the independence of their tamariki as active kaitiaki of their remote Marlborough Sounds environment. Every term, the students from Waitaria Bay School travel to Manaroa Head to complete Litter Intelligence monitoring, contributing valuable data to the nationwide Sustainable Coastlines database. Their commitment to this long‑term citizen science project shows a strong understanding of how local action supports national environmental knowledge. Back at school, the tamariki proudly showed us their...

by Enviroschools Marlborough

September 23, 2026

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Pokapoka Visit

As an extension on their learning about Energy, tamariki from Mayfield Kindergarten took a trip to visit a local historical site - Pokapoka, Seventeen Valley At Mayfield Kindergarten, tamariki had been learning about the energy from Ruaumoko when Wairau began sharing the story passed to her from her papa about the tsumani that washed across our shores many years ago. To empower Wairau with her korero, kaiako Natasha organised a trip to Pokapoka. Wairau’s papa, Keelan Walker, also came and together they shared the history of the site. Tamariki from Mayfield Kindergarten, staff and management from the Marlborough Kindergarten Association and our Environmental Education team had the pleasure of listening and learning about the...

by Enviroschools Marlborough

September 22, 2026

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Growing Kūmara, Growing Knowledge

Over the past few years there has been an increasing interest in growing kūmara in Marlborough. We have seen this in both schools with our Kids Edible Gardens facilitators and ECE centres. So this term we hosted a workshop to deepen and strengthen this knowledge alongside Reuben Molnar from Te Whatu Ora and Tane Anderson from Sports Tasman. Reuben and Angela demonstrating how to set up a tāpapa Reuben Molnar, has been raising kūmara tipu with rangatahi at NMIT and growing crops at the community gardens. Over the past couple of years the rangatahi have generously shared some of the tipu they raised with Kids Edible Gardens. This has given our...

by Enviroschools Marlborough

September 21, 2026

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Aquanauts – Exploring Beneath the Surface

Twenty tamariki from four schools became Aquanauts for the day, joining Glenis Paul from the NZ Marine Studies Centre for an amazing day of hands-on science, problem-solving and underwater exploration. Glenis doing a demostration The morning began by exploring the nature of science - observing, measuring, identifying, questioning and using evidence to find answers. Tamariki rotated through a range of activities, measuring the salinity and temperature of water from rivers, estuaries and the moana. Then estimating the age of tuangi by counting the ribs on their shells. Followed by identifying different shells and becoming mudflat detectives by matching signs of life with the creatures that made them. Next came some very cool...

by Enviroschools Marlborough

September 15, 2026

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Looking at the Awa Through a Different Lens

Five classes from Riverlands School headed to the Taylor River this term for a stream study to support their classroom inquiry learning. With the water still far too chilly for tamariki to get in, it was the perfect opportunity to discover that there are other ways we can assess the health of an awa. Riffles are shallow fast flowing areas where water bubbles over rocks adding oxygen to the awa. Tamariki put their observation skills to the test, taking a close look at what was happening in and around the river. They investigated the material covering the stream bed, the amount of algae present, pools, riffles and runs, plants providing shade...

by Enviroschools Marlborough

September 9, 2026

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From Envirogroup Event to Whole-School Action!

It’s always exciting to see learning turn into action! After taking part in Enviroschools student events over the past couple of years exploring themes including World Environment Day, renewable energy and, most recently, our amazing biodiversity. The Envirogroup at St Mary's School decided it was time to share some of their learning with the rest of their school. The team came up with the idea of organising their own whole-school environmental morning. This involved everyone taking part in two hands-on activities in their house groups. Activities ranged from upcycling old T-shirts into shopping bags, making bird feeders, to building solar ovens and getting active with a water relay.

: Helping biodiversity by making tasty treats for manu hanging up to dry

: Tamariki learning about renewable energy and making solar ovens.

Of course, organising activities...

by Enviroschools Marlborough

September 8, 2026

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Diving Beneath the Surface

Term 3 kicked off with an amazing virtual reality learning experience for 180 Year 7 and 8 tamariki. Glenis started with a karakia to set the intensions for the session. Glenis Paul from the NZ Marine Studies Centre led six sessions that took students on a virtual dive beneath the waves. They explored some of Aotearoa’s unique marine habitats and the creatures that call them home. St Mary's students - It feels so real you just want to reach out and touch what is in front of you. There were plenty of “oohs” and “aahs” as the headsets went on and tamariki and accompanying teachers suddenly found themselves...

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September 2, 2026

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Manu Weaving

A number of kaiako from ECE through to secondary school took part in a hands on Nga Taonga Takaro workshop with Harko Brown at the end of term 2. During this workshop kaiako had the opportunity to learn about and experience a variety of traditional māori games - one of these included the use of a woven manu (bird). Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to learn to weave this manu on the evening but this create an opportunity for a follow up workshop. So early in term 3, Ramona organised for a group of kaiako to get back together to do exactly that. Ramona and a couple of other teachers had had the opportunity...

by Enviroschools Marlborough

June 28, 2026

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Enviro Leaders Celebrate Biodiversity on World Environment Day

World Environment Day provided the perfect opportunity for Enviro Leaders to come together and learn fun educational activities to take back to their own schools and share with others. Tamariki from Fairhall, Grovetown, Springlands, St Mary's and Redwoodtown Schools spent the afternoon taking part in four hands-on activities. The activities were designed to help them understand why biodiversity matters and how they can help protect it in their own school grounds and communities. Angela introducing the pests Pest Dectectives At Pest Detectives, they investigated some of New Zealand's introduced predators and learned about the impacts on our native wildlife. Thanks to the team at Picton Dawn Chorus, students were able to get up...

by Enviroschools Marlborough

June 28, 2026

Enviroschools stories General

Exploring Energy at MKA

Tamariki and kaiako from across the Marlborough Kindergarten Association have been learning all about Energy. Here are a few examples of what they have been up to. Mayfield Kindergarten

: The plates are moving it makes a volcano and earthquakes – Wairau

: Rūaumoko is in his māmā’s puku, he is happy. He gets angry he kicks his māmā’s puku and it makes a big earthquake – Wairau

: This is a tsunami, when the plates move and crack under the water – Wairau

At Mayfield Kindergarten they have explored energy through a te ao Māori lens and learnt about Ruaumoko, the atua of earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis. Tamariki discovered that when Ruaumoko moves beneath Papatūānuku, the earth can shake, rumble and change. This supported them to hold both mātauranga Māori and scientific understandings alongside each other as they made sense of the natural world.

: Making a volcano

: Creating a tsunami

Tamariki have been creating volcanoes, which sparked conversations about why they erupt. This led to learning about tectonic plates and how...

by Enviroschools Marlborough