Working together!

Mahana School won the "Together we succeed award" for the school that proves working together gets results.

The hut was a true community effort with parents, local businesses, community groups, staff and students all pitching in to support the EcoHut project with donations of time, labour and materials.  It was an inspirational effort that highlights the value of communities working together and supporting each other.

"I though they made good use of local materials such as Woolaston Estate wine bottles and clay from the Ruby Bay bypass.”

"It was neat that there was a clay house in the same spot many years ago (in reference to a cobb hut that once existed on the same site)"

Growing their own EcoHut!

 Ngatimoti School picked up "The Green Inside and Out Award" as it was  recognised as the EcoHut closest to nature.

 Ngatimoti School had a great idea that instead of building a hut, they would  grow one. Unfortunately the timing wasn't great and their living hut didn't survive  the summer but the children showed great perseverance and a positive  attitude and are keen to try again in winter when the  climate is better suited to  growing a willow hut.

 "When it's finished it will blend in with its surroundings"
 "The hut is renewable in every way"
 "I thought it was very creative "

Deepening practices in sustainability

Local teachers, who see the wonderful plastic bottle growing house at Greenwood Kindergarten that children and staff designed and built, say they want one too.

When these teachers ask the staff at Greenwood how they did it, what they hear is a reflection about the rich process of taking time to empower children and together learning and designing each baby step to enjoy the journey of actions to achieve their vision. This is in sharp contrast to knowing how easy it is for teachers to make the decisions to quickly get things to happen, which often involves seeking funding as the answer to achieve the sort after things.

Greenwood staff had a vision of becoming a solar powered kindergarten. First thought was how to afford the solar panels they could have. However, they put a hold on those thoughts. They knew they had to start a few steps back on the Action Learning Cycle. Although, there may be alternatives to just finding money as the solution to a specific project achievement, the teachers also knew that ‘ako’ with the children and parent community is the real key to engagement and development of any worthwhile project.

Identifying how the sun already works in the Kindergarten was the best way to start their inquiry learning to lead to action. You can imagine all of the activities and science experiments the teachers did to help children and themselves gain knowledge and experiences around temperatures and the power of the sun. After all, solar power is natural not just something that is technologically derived.

Children’s questions led to internet investigations and the first project was to make and use a solar oven, using what was made available and was achieved at no cost. It is an interesting part of any action process to find that after setting a worthwhile shared goal and being prepared to explore alternatives, doors more easily open to potential resources. Of note, was that silver card was used to minimise the reflected intensity of the solar oven heat. Even then, staff observed it still took 6 months before all of the children gained the courage to put their hand in the solar oven to feel the heat and thus experience this solar process. The children and teachers became aware of how much they could more effectively use solar power for all sorts of things. They used times of the day and places around the Kindergarten for best drying or shade. Creative experiences with enhancing paper mâché bricks, water for play, and choice of clothing, light reflection and growing things all benefited through developing their solar energy kindergarten.

When the question arose of how to grow plants in winter, both staff and children explored what others had done and had fun experimenting with designs. This led to the plastic bottle Grow House project.

The ethics around plastic bottle options was addressed benefitting healthy choice awareness. By also bringing the community on board, it was another successful learning outcomes solar-powered project with little cost. Next step is to investigate water conservation and warming water for the Grow House in winter. The teachers at Greenwood have integrated solar power into their Kindergarten in a myriad of ways and enriched children’s learning by stepping back to use the Action Learning Cycle with the children. And, there’s still the possibility of having solar panels one day.

Photo 1 – TDC Councillor Eileen Wilkins and the 4 year old main designer opening the Grow House December 2011 at Silver Level celebration
Photo 2 – Kid safe solar oven at Greenwood KindergartenPhoto 3, 4, 5 – Fitting the bottles together to make a row and fitting the rows together can be practised over and over. All sorts of things may be needed and tall teacher Shayne puts in the high rows.

Grab your duvet this is one five-star hut!

Salsibury School won the "I could live here award" - For the most comfortable, well-built EcoHut!

This solidly constructed hut has everything you'd need for a relaxing break!
It has been built from donated macrocarpa timber and designed to resemble a back country hut, complete with a bed and a sink with a rain water and grey water collection system.

It will be an asset for the school for many years to come and is a tribute to all those who worked on it over the last year - of which there are many.

"I like the curtains and hand painted duvet, it's their own personal touch"
"They have used the space wisely"
"I like the lizards and how they took glass off the beach to decorate the outside area"

Amazing progress on their sustainability journey!

Dovedale School has been involved with the Enviroschools programme for nearly two years. In that time the whole school has made considerable progress on their journey towards becoming a sustainable learning environment.

The school is involved with a number of sustainable initiatives. One major focus area is reducing waste and students’ have designed their own waste-free lunch boxes and have focus days where recognition is given to those who are making efforts to reduce their waste. They recycle and re-use wherever possible and turn any food scraps into compost to add to their productive edible gardens. They are actively encouraging their local community to be involved and regularly include tips on waste reduction in their school newsletters.

Recently the whole school have been working on the paperwork side of maintaining an EE focus within the school. The Envirogroup decided that they needed something to focus everyone in the school on the direction they wanted to take. A care code was the perfect solution. The group explored care codes from other schools to see what might work for them and then brainstormed all of the features they would like to include. The idea of an acrostic care code appealed to everyone so they went about creating three different codes, each with a slightly different focus. Each code was then presented to the whole school and students, teachers and parents voted for the one they preferred. This then became the Dovedale School Care Code and is on display throughout the school, so everyone is clear what they are working towards.

The teaching staff have been inspired by the impact of the care code and have started to work on writing their own vision statement, which they will share with the school community once they have finished. Environmental Education is given status within the school and is included in the strategic goals and planning documents. All of this helps to provide a stable structure on which to base a sound and sustainable EE programme.