Knowledge of Tānemahuta grows at Springlands School
If you haven’t been to Mckendry Park in Spring, it is something that you must do. Golden and white Daffodils dot the park, whilst spring blossom gently falls to the ground from the breeze of Tāwhirimātea, as if snow is falling. The students of Springlands school got to experience this magic as part of their learning about Tānemahuta.
This term Ramona and Angela from our Environmental Education Team worked alongside Springlands School to put together a plan to learn about Tānemahuta and his presence within their school and surrounding areas. Tānemahuta is the guardian of all the forests and all the birds and plants that live there.
The plan that was put together provided a guide of weekly activities to be facilitated with the new entrant class and Year 1 class. With only a small window of time available each week the activities were designed to be educational, hands-on and fun.
Each week had a different theme such as bees, birds, bugs, getting to know the ngahere, taking care of the environment and nature connection. The sessions were based outside and began with a mindfulness activity to ground and connect the tamariki to the environment. The activities following this involved making bug houses, reading relevant books, leaf and tree identification and exploration time. Ramona and Angela lead some of these sessions while others were led by their teacher Cathee Wilks. Both their School ngahere and McKendry Park were utilised as places to explore and offered different experiences and learning opportunities.
These planned sessions wove in beautifully with the school value of Kaitiakitanga – We are guardians of the environment. Supporting tamariki to grow their knowledge and love for the environment and in turn a desire to want to take care of it.
“If children grow up not knowing about nature and appreciating it, they will not understand it, and if they don’t understand it, they won’t protect it, and if they don’t protect it, who will?”
David Attentbrough.
If you want support in putting together a termly plan to strengthen your classes’ connection to nature contact our Environmental Education team.
