Te Kaupapari

Puāwaitanga have been buzzing with investigations that looked at different ways we can help to ‘Make our Community GREAT!’ Take a look at what we’ve been up to. Room 16 has been looking at ways to improve our community to make it GREAT. We gathered information about organic methods to spray the weeds at our school and then we made a hypothesis before we began our testing. There were varying degrees of success, and one of the most effective ways of eradicating weeds was a mixture of vinegar, salt and water. As part of Room 17 ’s Inquiry learning this term, students were fortunate enough to spend a morning with Sarah Slater from Watercare, learning lots about water quality in our local streams and waters. Students were shown how to test the quality of water using pH and nitrate indicators, and were also able to identify how the effect of pollution can impact the water quality and animal life in our local  streams. Room 18 has been using our overarching theme, ‘...

We have got many enviro initiatives going on  in the school to start the year, with more to  come. Here is a snapshot of what is happening  so far: The Eco-Warriors have started working towards the our TREEmendous outdoor learning area event  to be held on the 8th and 9th of May. They are currently designing some of the elements of the space,  including a creative water wheel. The school has committed to communicating digitally with families, which is a great way to  drastically reduce paper and ink use in our school, saving money and easing pressure on the  resources of our planet. Tupuranga students are taking ownership of their vegetable gardens and have started off by planting  seeds to grow in their gardens. Growing kai is a great way to develop our hauora: our physical, mental  and emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing. Room 9 had a great time  digging up potatoes last  week and enjoyed a potato  feast. ...

We held an 'Aroha for Australia' fundraiser mufti day on Friday the 14th of February to raise funds for the bushfire relief effort. It was great to be able to take action to help support our Australian neighbours during this catastrophic time.  A special thank you  to our community  for supporting our  Australian bushfire m ufti day, we raised a  fantastic $585.10! 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. -  Respect for the   Diversity of People and Cultures  acknowledges the u...

During the weekend of the 7th & 8th December, learners from Stanhope set out for a walk with their whanau to collect a bag of rubbish from their local community. This was part of the Walk & Collect Weekend:  https://facebook.com/events/s/walk-collect-weekend/521941935297547/?ti=icl  We felt great doing something to help our planet breathe and the best part is that collectively we made a real difference! 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. -  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.

We have been an Enviroschool for six months now and are really  excited with the progress we have made and the possibilities for  next year and beyond. Some highlights have included the arrival  of our beehives, the fruit trees that each class planted and our  vegetable growing, harvesting and eating. Three representatives from Room 17 attended the Enviroschools  Celebration day last Friday, where there were displays from other  schools which was really inspirational and gave us lots of ideas  for what we could achieve at our school. A fabulous storyteller  entertained us and there was a delicious waste-free, locally-sourced  and healthy morning tea! We hope to be in a position to exhibit our sustainability journey at  the Enviroschools Celebration this time next year. Watch this space! Enviroschools Principles in action here: -  Empowered Students   are enabled to participate in a meaningful way in the life of thei...

Our family games night was a fantastic opportunity for our school community to come together and connect.  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. -  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.

Our newest arrivals to Stanhope, the students in Room 2, have been doing some gardening this term. They have removed our old pea vines, planted some cherry tomatoes and basil, sowed some seeds, enjoyed using the watering cans and harvested some broccoli. We tasted the broccoli both raw and cooked and the verdict was that it was more delicious when cooked – the students polished off a huge bowl of plain steamed broccoli! Everyone tried it and only a few children decided it wasn’t for them and many came back for second helpings. Vegetables are more appealing and so much tastier when you’ve grown them yourself! Are you growing any vegetables in your garden at home? 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. ...

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. In July the Eco-Warriors heard the exciting news that their stage 1 TREE...

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. -  Respect for the   Diversity of People and Cultures  acknowledges the unique gifts, contributions and perspectives of individuals and groups, reinforcing the need for participatory decision-making in Enviroschools. -  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.

What a wonderful week we had celebrating Diwali! 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. -  Respect for the   Diversity of People and Cultures  acknowledges the unique gifts, contributions and perspectives of individuals and groups, reinforcing the need for participatory decision-making in Enviroschools. -  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.

Well done to Puāwaitanga for encouraging and supporting safe sustainable travel to school! 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. -  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.

We have been enjoying the fruits of our labour in the  garden recently. The loquat tree has been extremely popular, with its  sweet and juicy yellow fruit drawing crowds during  break times. We have also been harvesting lettuce, spinach, celery, snow peas,  broccoli, cabbages, beetroots, kale, silverbeet and carrots to share  with some of our whanau. Labour weekend is the traditional time to plant tomatoes in New  Zealand, so Whakatōtanga and Tupuranga students have been busy  getting our cherry tomato plants into the ground and we can’t wait  for a delicious harvest when we get back to school after the summer holidays. It’s a great time of year for our students to be getting  outside and working in the garden! 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...

Room 6 students experimented with dry ice during Science Club. Students learned that dry ice was frozen carbon dioxide, the gas we exhale and the gas plants use to make food. We discussed the differences between normal ice (frozen water) and dry ice.  Water freezes at 0 degrees and carbon dioxide becomes a solid at -78 degrees. Students hypothesised about what would happen to the dry ice when placed in cold water vs hot water. They observed bubbles when dry ice was in water and vapour poured off the water. To show that the bubbles were carbon dioxide (air), we placed water and dry ice in a water bottle and quickly attached a balloon to the opening. The dry ice bubbled and the balloon began to inflate. This week the students discussed the experiment further in class and each wrote about the experiment.  We are so grateful to one of our parents, Colleen Brent, for giving up her time to come in and share her incredible knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm with the stud...

We had the pleasure of sharing our beehives with the some of our project supporters on Friday the 18th of October. Members of the Rotary Club of Ellerslie Sunrise and Jay Park of JP Homes visited to see the bees in  action. We held an opening ceremony where Dave McDonald from Rotary cut a ribbon with one of our newest students, Isabelle. Members of the kapa haka group sang a beautiful waiata while our visitors inspected the hives. We are truly grateful to our project supporters for helping to make this wonderful learning opportunity possible: Rotary Club of Ellerslie Sunrise, JP Homes NZ, the Maungakiekie Tamaki Local Board, Fulton Hogan, Mitre 10 Mega Mt Wellington and Torque Digital. 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 su...

Tupuranga teachers have challenged our learners to come to school with a litterless lunch. This is part of our Inquiry learning and will also help minimise waste in our  environment. We understand that it is hard to completely remove all packaging from lunches, all we  ask is to make a small change. 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.

In Whakatōtanga in terms 1 to 3 2019, the Room 9 Garden Club has grown, harvested and eaten a number of vegetables and fruits. The students pulled a large radish out of the garden. They all pulled  together just like in the story, ‘The Gigantic Turnip’! The Garden Club also harvested some celery, sugar snap peas and salad leaves to take home to share with their whanau. We enjoyed harvesting our kumara in autumn, it was like digging for buried treasure! One of the kumara was the biggest kumara we had ever seen. We loved eating the kumara chips, they were delicious. 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 l...

Whakatōtanga started Term Three 2019 with the arrival of our 9 chicks from  The Living Eggs Programme . We loved watching the chicks grow. The two females remained at school and grew quite large before leaving school at the end of the term to go and live on a farm. 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.