Te Anau School are putting in a top-notch effort to live the Enviroschools kaupapa.
Earlier this year the school won a national competition after making a new community garden out of recycled toothbrushes, old toothpaste tubes, dental floss containers, and cardboard boxes. In total they recycled over 6500 items!
The support of the local community was very important, with the local Fresh Choice supermarket keeping a box instore to collect empty containers and tubes.
Te Anau School is part of the Kids Restore the Kepler project and each class gets the opportunity throughout the year to go onto the Kepler Track.
Students do activities such as checking stoat lines, listening for bird calls, learning about native birds, and stream studies.
The school also took part in the Southland Enviroschool Hui this year which reinforced the childrens’ learning about the environment.
Te Anau School are part of a network of three Enviroschools in Te Anau and each school has a close relationship with the Department of Conservation (DOC) and Punanga Manu o Te Anau (Te Anau Bird Sanctury) through their involvement in the “Kids Restore the Kepler” programme.
In exciting news, the Department of Conservation are currently working with an architect to design a kids’ shelter at Punanga Manu o Te Anau and have invited Enviroschools, Kids Restore the Kepler, Environment Southland, Fish & Game, and Oraka Aparima to participate in the design workshop on 12th June.