We are excited and honoured to be working with the early childhood sector in New Zealand and continue to be inspired and amazed at the contributions young children are making towards a more sustainable future. Enviroschools is a wonderful fit for the early childhood setting and weaves in beautifully with the principles and strands of Te Whāriki.
With limits on our resources we had to find a way to work with this sector, and our main focus is currently building partnerships with Kindergarten Associations.
Queenstown Montessori are well on the pathway towards creating a more sustainable centre. When they reflected on the silver stage of the Enviroschools journey they discovered some amazing things
>read more here
Wanaka Preschool run an Explorers Programme where tamariki /children head out to experience and connect with their local environment
>see what they get up to here!
Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou. Thank you to all who attended and participated in the first ever Enviroschools Early Childhood Hui held at Papamoa from the 29th April-1st May 2014.
The hui was an amazing success with over 80 participants from 14 regions around Aotearoa.
It was wonderful to have the support of Nga Potiki, Tauranga Region Kindergartens and Bay of Plenty Regional Council in the planning and opening of the hui. We were also honoured to host Jenny Ritchie, Rob McGowan and Antonio Te Maioha as inspirational guest speakers along with 15 participants who ran fantastic workshops and Pecha Kucha presentations.
The highlights of the hui were the bus tours around four Tauranga kindergartens, connecting with others in the sector working on an enviroschools journey, and the inspiration and learning gained from the workshops and presentations.
"This hui was so very well organised and run with inspirational presenters. There is a great feeling of respect by all those involved in Enviroschools with a genuine desire to make a difference"
"All presentations have been so informative sparking lots of new ideas that I will be able to take back and use in my daily practice. I have really enjoyed the strength that Enviroschools has to Māori culture"
Enviroschools Facilitators can find links to download some of the workshops and pecha kucha presentations given at the hui in the facilitator tools section of our website.
From 2011 to 2013 we ran a pilot project with Kindergaten Associations to further develop the Enviroschools Programme in ECE. In both 2012 and 2013 we surveyed the participating kindergartens and the families of the children attending.
Please click here for a summary of the results and comments for 2013
Please click here for a summary of the overall results for 2012
Many thanks to the Ministry for the Environment Waste Minimisation Fund for funding this initiative, and also the ecostore for sponsoring the great prizes.
