We have a TREEmendous announcement to make!
But first, some background...
TREEmendous – a joint initiative between the Mazda Foundation and Project Crimson, teaches children about the importance of caring for the environment through the development of amazing outdoor classrooms for teachers and students to reconnect with nature.
The initiative is about encouraging environmental education in schools, along with teaching children and the wider community about the importance of caring for the environment.
Ruud Kleinpaste, the ‘Bugman’, is an ambassador for the project who takes environmental education to the next level at TREEmendous events. Ruud brings his insect friends along and teaches the children about New Zealand’s native bugs and the importance of looking after the environment.
Check out treemendous.org.nz for more information and examples.
TREEmendous – a joint initiative between the Mazda Foundation and Project Crimson, teaches children about the importance of caring for the environment through the development of amazing outdoor classrooms for teachers and students to reconnect with nature.
The initiative is about encouraging environmental education in schools, along with teaching children and the wider community about the importance of caring for the environment.
Ruud Kleinpaste, the ‘Bugman’, is an ambassador for the project who takes environmental education to the next level at TREEmendous events. Ruud brings his insect friends along and teaches the children about New Zealand’s native bugs and the importance of looking after the environment.
Check out treemendous.org.nz for more information and examples.
In July the Eco-Warriors heard the exciting news that their stage 1 TREEmendous application made it into the top 10 out of the 88 schools who applied. This put us through to stage 2 of the competition, which required us to put our heads together to plan an amazing outdoor learning area for our school in a bid to be selected as one of the four schools to receive $10,000 and a TREEmendous event.
And guess what? We did it!!
We have just been notified that our application was successful and we will be holding a TREEmendous event to create our outdoor learning area on the 8th and 9th of May 2020. On the 8th of May we will be visited by Ruud Kleinpaste and Riley Elliot. Ruud will talk to the students about the importance of bugs and all the roles they play in the environment and he will share with us practical ways we can use the new outdoor learning area. Riley is a shark expert and talks about the importance of the marine environment and following your dreams.
Saturday the 9th of May is where you, our school whanau and community, comes in! The Mazda Foundation, Project Crimson, Ruud Kleinpaste and Riley Elliot will all be at our school to help us realise the Eco-Warriors' vision for our outdoor learning area and we need your help to get stuck in and get it done. As well as lots of work digging, planting, mulching and building, we will also hear from our visiting celebrities, have a delicious morning tea and finish with a BBQ lunch. We encourage you all to come along, it will be a great day.
Our TREEmendous outdoor learning area will feature:
- a classroom space with tree logs and rocks for seating and tables and an outdoor blackboard
- timber wigwam/teepee structures formed as a basic frame of timber and then left for students to add ‘cladding’ in the form of branches and leaves etc.
- a forest clearing beneath existing mature native trees. This space will be flexible and encourage creativity, imaginative play, ‘loose-parts’ play and general ‘free-play’ as well as being a ‘zen’ space for mindfulness and contemplation during quieter times
- pathways that link the outdoor classroom, the forest clearing and the beehive area
- native planting throughout the TREEmendous area and the plant species will be those that provide habitat and food to native birds, lizards and insects
- a wildflower meadow to provide food for our bees and for other pollinators, insects and butterflies
- fruit trees and a vegetable garden will be planted for morning tea and lunchtime harvesting
- a rainwater harvesting feature connecting to a nearby downpipe to water the vegetable garden, the fruit trees, the native planting and to fill up drinking water stations for the birds, lizards, insects and bees
- we will undertake ongoing pest monitoring using tracking tunnels, chew cards and wax tags
- students will construct bird houses, insect hotels and lizard habitat using recycled and natural materials.
Enviroschools Principles in action here:
- Empowered Students are enabled to participate in a meaningful way in the life of their early childhood centre or school. Their unique perspectives are valued for the knowledge and insight that they bring, and they are supported to take action for real change.
- The principle of Learning for Sustainability recognises the types of teaching and learning that foster student empowerment, decision-making, action and sustainable outcomes.
- The principle of Māori Perspectives honours the status of tangata whenua in this land and the value of indigenous knowledge in enriching and guiding learning and action.
- Sustainable Communities act in ways that nurture people and nature, now and in the future, to maintain the health and viability of our environment, society, culture and economy.