The Enviroschools kaupapa reminds us to be in connection –  to love, care for and respect ourselves, each other and our planet. We all felt this as we celebrated our Bronze Enviroschools Sign Celebration last week. Thank you so much to all whānau who joined us, and who have supported us on our journey so far.

Tamariki proudly performed a haka powhiri, ‘Toia Mai’, to welcome everyone and our Beach Haven Kindergarten pepeha.  Nodira’s family painted some beautiful art with the elements from our pepeha for children to hold while they spoke their pepeha in Te Reo and New Zealand Sign Language. We also unveiled a very precious artwork gifted to us by local artist Jeffrey Holdaway, a kindergarten Dad, which incorporates all of the aspects of our pepeha – Uruamo, Waitemata, Rangitoto, the four winds, and our kindergarten. We also sang Tutira Mai Nga Iwi.

Teachers unveiled our beautiful sign which will soon be put up on the fence and we shared delicious kai in the sun.

We have wanted to become an Enviroschool for a number of years so when we officially started we were already quite far along on our journey.  We have learnt a lot about Māori perspectives this year as teachers have attended professional development sessions and have shared this learning with our tamariki. Our next steps are to further reduce the waste produced in our kindergarten by providing an alternative to plastic bags and food wrap – watch this space!

Louise Fairfield, Teacher – Beach Haven Kindergarten