A group of Springlands School students made the most of the sunny autumn days by taking their learning to McKendry Park and using nature as their classroom for maths. They counted chestnuts, created repeating patterns, counted trees, measured the distance between them, and used tally marks and skip counting in 5s to count sticks. Learning was hands-on, meaningful, and lots of fun!
Connecting with nature helps to make us smarter, healthier and happier, this is the purpose for Blenheim’s new nature exploration space. Located on the Taylor River beneath a stand of large trees is Blenheim’s new Nature Exploration Space. The ideal spot with the surrounding environment offering an extension to the dedicated space for running, climbing and exploring. The project started last year with the Council's Environmental Education team and support from Parks and Open Spaces officer Kiri Whiteman. It began with a consultation process with young tamariki in Blenheim. They were asked what they would like to see, do, feel, hear in the new space. Tamariki were encouraged to discuss, draw and even create a...
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A group of 20 Year 7 and 8 rangatahi led by Di Huntly from Queen Charlotte College celebrated Sea Week the best way possible by getting wet, muddy, and hands-on with tuangi/cockle monitoring at Whatamango Bay. The beautiful rimurimu meadow of Whatamango Bay The day was a special collaboration with Glenis Paul from the NZ Marine Studies Centre, Kiara Duke-Love from Te Ātiawa, and the college, bringing together science, mātauranga Māori, and local knowledge in one learning experience. The morning began with Matua Neville Tahuaroa-Watson, who opened the day with a karakia and the laying of a treasured pou. This set the intentions for the mahi ahead and asked for the protection...
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Discovering the Living Systems of Grovetown Lagoon Year 10 ākonga from the Mountains to Sea course at Marlborough Girls’ College spent the day exploring the amazing ecosystems of Grovetown Lagoon - a place they’d already been learning about in class. Split into three groups, each team started with a different adventure rotating around each activity. Group one joined local birder Phil Bradfield on a walk around the lagoon, learning to identify the many manu that make this wetland home and discovering how species like whitebait form an important part of the food chain. Group two rolled up their sleeves with Justine Johnson, helping to release young native trees from the weeds around them. Their mahi will give...
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A small group of Picton School tamariki taking part in the Science Alive programme spent Terms 2 and 3 diving deep into food forests and composting. What they achieved was incredible! The food forest plan Their goal was to set up a hot composting system in their Kids Edible Gardens and transform the ornamental garden near their lunch area into a thriving, productive space full of vegetables and herbs. They began by exploring how food systems work, then headed out to Esson’s Valley to see decomposition happening naturally. In the ngahere they noticed something important, the forest has a structure. Tall trees form the canopy, smaller plants create the understory, and...
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To celebrate 20 years of Enviroschools in the region, students from 4-12 years old from around Marlborough helped to plant trees and plants along the Taylor River Walkway. The students from 6 schools, Springlands kindergarten and Montessori were welcomed with a mihi. Followed by an introduction to the planting site, a site that was created in 2000 with Forest and Bird. The area was then added to in 2005 when Enviroschools first started in Marlborough. Again in 2015 at the Enviroschools 10 year celebration and recently for the 20 year celebration.
As part of Conservation Week Aotearoa, a group tamariki from Waitohi Kindergarten went on a beautiful bush adventure into the heart of Wild Waikawa — and what an incredible journey it was! Wild Waikawa stands at the base of Mt Piripiri and stretches up the face of the maunga, the mountain sacred to mana whenua. Waitohi Kindergarten have a special relationship with the place, visiting there with tamariki several times a term. Here they connect with nature, explore and discover. These experiences don't sit in isolation either, they are brought back to kindergarten and extended upon. On this visit their little explorers delighted in spotting Black Witches Butter fungi, lying back to gaze up...
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Riverlands School have reignited their Envirogroup. A small group of keen Enviroleaders have been rediscovering their school environment through small nature connection activities. Small changes in the environment are hard to notice when you are playing in the same space every day. Some familiar and special places are taken for granted. That’s where nature connection activities come in - helping tamariki pause, observe, and notice what is happening… and sometimes more importantly, what’s not happening. The Enviroleaders have been busy; becoming plant detectives, identifying native plants and learning their names. Also exploring where they might find atua in the playground, investigating the different habitats that exist within their school grounds and going on insect hunts...
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When we think about Nature Connection most of us would instantly think of being in the bush somewhere. But in term 4 last year Seymour Kindergarten tamariki discovered that a walk around the block can tie in all the Pathways to Nature Connection. What are the Pathways to Nature Connection? A deepened nature connection experience is achieved through the 5 pathways - sense, emotion, meaning, beauty and compassion. Hill rolling at Lansdowne Park Seymour Kindergarten tamariki have been exploring these by using their senses - smelling the flowers and touching the lambs ears. Experiencing the enjoyment (Emotions) of rolling down a grassy mound in Horton Park or the excitement of watching a bumble bee...
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Nature Connection programmes have been growing in Marlborough, especially in Kindergartens. Recently environmental educator for Marlborough District Council, Ramona Millen and Marlborough Kindergarten Association Senior Teacher, Gwenda Jones shared how this has developed over the last two years and the benefits of Nature Connection for tamariki. Ramona supporting a Nature Connection session The New Zealand Association for Environmental Education (NZAEE) hosted a webinar where Ramona and Gwenda talked about the changes they have seen by supporting teachers and children to regularly spend time in nature in the Marlborough region. With a few prompts around observing, tamariki have been experiencing many ways to connect with nature. From walks around the block, to local parks...
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