Mayor celebrates the partnership between Hutt City Council, Enviroschools and Hutt City Kindergarten Associations (HCKA) to bring the Enviroschools Programme into Hutt City kindergarten communities.

The Hutt City Kindergartens Enviroschools Leadership Team

From left, Michelle Ducat, Enviroschools Facilitator, Wendy Hemi, Professional Practice Manager at HCKA, Jo Young, teacher at Naenae Kindergarten and Ray Wallace, Mayor of Hutt City

On Thursday 8th May, Mayor Ray Wallace visited Naenae Kindergarten to celebrate a new partnership between the Hutt City Council, Enviroschools and the Hutt City Kindergarten Association. Naenae Kindergarten is one of the five kindergartens who will initially engage with the programme.

Thay Mayor's visit marked a double celebration to acknowledge the new development of the Naenae Kindergarten outdoor area.

"We were very keen to allow children the opportunity to engage in a more natural and beautiful playground, where there were places to hide, explore and play," says Lisa Ford, Head Teacher.

Mayor Wallace learns about the water pump at Naenae Kindergarten

The Enviroschools network in Hutt City currently consists of 13 schools, including three Green-Gold Enviorschools. Extending support for sustainability action to the early childhood sector marks a significant milestone for the Hutt City Council as it responds to demand in the community for support in this area.

"Enviroschools offers the Hutt City Council a dynamic and effective vehicle to implement our sustainability strategy. It gives schools access to Council and enables us to deliver effective sustainability messages to schools," said Ray Wallace in the 2013 Enviroschools Regional Snapshot.

Bringing the Enviroschools Programme into the Hutt City Kindergarten Association builds on the strong interest kindergartens have shown in the Kindergarten Sustainability cluster meetings Hutt City Council has supported since October 2012. These ongoing termly meetings cover a range of sustainability issues and have shown the commitment kindergartens already have to environmental education and sustainability.

Initially five Hutt City kindergartens have committed to an ongoing sustainability journey through the Enviroschools Programme: Naenae, Boulcott, Kelson, Waiwhetu, and Arakura. Once the programme is progressing well with the original five kindergartens, the intention is to develop this model to include more kindergartens.