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Enviroschools 101 Workshop

An Enviroschool is full of active learners developing skills, understanding, knowledge  confidence and working together to plan, design and create a sustainable place … but how do we get to that point?

This term Angela and Annie ran an Enviroschools 101 workshop. This was for those new to Enviroschools or wanting to know a bit more before stepping into a lead role for Enviroschools at their school.

Where was the best place to start? Out in the environment! Fairhall School was the background for our activities, noticing and observing te taiao in a slower more deliberate way. A place to map what we found to build a puna mātauranga, pool of knowledge. 

Creating a map is useful in many ways  – prompting questions and wondering from students (that can also be layered onto the map) about their environment. Forming a basis for whole school strategies and core curriculum planning. The starting point for a student led vision of how they and their community would like their school to look and feel like in the future.

We dived into the kaupapa of Enviroschools and our Guiding Principles. Exploring Fairhall School for places, artwork, practices, spaces that reflected them.  

Focusing on The Vision for Young People from Te Mataiaho showed beautifully how well aligned Enviroschools is with the curriculum refresh … some would say it was a rewording of our guiding principles!! 

Each activity became a resource for the teachers to use in their own schools with both staff and students.

Using the scenario of building a tunnel house/nursery at school to raise native plants for a riparian or ngahere planting, we explored how our Action Learning Cycle can be used for student inquiry learning as well as bigger whole school decision making.

Kete of Support

Even with a kete of activities, sometimes it is how you are supported that gives momentum to get up and running or motivation to keep going.  Our Enviroschools team is here to help with a tailored support package. Ecostore prizes were up for grabs as we became familiar with the online resources included in the package.  The package also includes help to plan and facilitate activities with both staff and students. Be an ‘expert’ on camp, connect you with local places, community organisations and events.

Contact Angela if you feel you or the entire staff would benefit from delving more deeply into Enviroschools. Angela is available to run a shortened version (or one part) in one of your staff meetings.