Enviroschools and Trees for Survival

Enviroschools

Whenuapai School is a Bronze Enviroschool and this year we are actively working towards our Silver award. However, Green-Gold, the highest award, is our aim.

Enviroschools is a nationwide programme supported by Toimata Foundation, founding partner Te Mauri Tau, and a large network of regional partners. With their support, Whenuapai School has committed to a long-term sustainability journey, where tamariki/students connect with and explore their environment, then plan, design and take action in their local places in collaboration with their communities.

The Enviroschools kaupapa is about creating a healthy, peaceful, sustainable world through learning and taking action together.

The kaupapa guides all that we do and is embodied in five guiding principles that underpin the whole Enviroschools journey:

Empowered Students are enabled to participate in meaningful ways in the life of Whenuapai School. Their unique perspectives are valued for the knowledge and insight that they bring, and they are supported to take action for real change.
Learning for Sustainability recognises the types of teaching and learning that use connecting experiences to develop holistic and ecological perspectives, foster student enquiry, decision-making, action, and reflection, and create sustainable outcomes.
Māori Perspectives honours the status of tangata whenua in this land and the value of indigenous knowledge and wisdoms in enriching and guiding learning and action.
Respect for the Diversity of People and Cultures acknowledges the unique gifts, contributions and perspectives of individuals and groups, reinforcing the value of participatory decision-making and collaborative action.
Sustainable Communities act in ways that nurture people and nature, now and in the future, to maintain the health and viability of our environment, society, culture and economy.

Trees for Survival

Trees for Survival is a charitable trust which works with schools and local communities to grow and plant native trees along waterways and on erosion prone hillsides. Their environmental education programme provides an opportunity for Whenuapai School children to make a practical difference to their environment as well as learn about conservation, revegetation, wetland restoration and protecting stream quality.

Each year in Term 4, we pot on between 800-1000 native seedlings, specially selected for the local environment they will be planted in. We water and nurture them until the following winter when they are ready to plant out. In recent years, our students have worked closely with Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel to plant hundreds of native plants on the Air Force Base, and with Auckland Council to revegetate the banks of the Waiarohia Stream.

Garden to Table

The garden-to-table program empowers our senior students to grow, harvest, prepare, and share fresh, seasonal, and affordable kai.

The Year 5-8 students take turns working in the māra kai (gardens), and cooking in the kitchen. They sit down to enjoy a healthy meal using produce they have grown.