Kids Greening Taupo update August 2020
Each day over lockdown they posted an activity on the Kids Greening Taupō facebook page to encourage whanau to connect with nature in a different way. They have continued to create these Nature Connectors, and now have over 150 of the mavailable on our website as useful resources for schools, whanau and community groups to use. They are a one-stop-shop of nature and conservation activities and information.
Each conservation theme is broken down into five days of activities. Designed by a teacher and an ecologist each unit contains hands-on activities, inquiry questions, informative videos, and a fantastic read aloud book with a follow up activity.
These Nature Classroom units are planned to integrate the learning areas of the New Zealand Curriculum and link to the values and key competencies. They are also planned with the vision, mission, and values of Kids Greening Taupō in mind.
The Ministry of Education would like to thank the writers and publisher for making this resource available to teachers, parents, whānau and their children as they support learning from home.
A May 16 Stuff article profiled the programme in relation to distance learning opportunities during the Coronavirus lock down
Also of note - University of Auckland’s Dr Sally Birdsall recently presented at a United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) webinar hosted by a college in Bangalore and attended bu=y 350 school principals from all over India, as well as countries as diverse as Sri Lanka and Morocco.
In her presentation, Dr Birdsall talked about the connection between education and equitable societies and gave practical examples of how to embed a number of the goals into the school curriculum. She chose to showcase two projects close to home; Kids Greening Taupō and Papa Taiao Earthcare.
“The first gives Taupō rangatahi the opportunity not just to learn about, but take action to restore native biodiversity,” she says. “Kindergartens and schools ‘adopt’ an area in Taupō and work in partnership with the council and other organisations to trap and poison pests, remove noxious weeds and re-plant the area with native plants.”
The project also offers teachers workshops to increase their knowledge and build their confidence with including outdoor contexts in their lessons.
https://www.schoolnews.co.nz/2020/05/op-ed-making-the-natural-world-the-foundation-of-all-school-education-systems/