Ecological Building

Ecological Building Sustainable Communities

Building blows away Board - embracing ecological building principles

This story starts after an engaging Ecological Building hui in Otago that led to student directed planning and action towards a small ecological building! Enviroschools Facilitator, Tess Mackay, tracks the progress of Warrington School, their engagement with local experts and the process of observing, measuring, exploration, planning, testing, design, and building.

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Ecological Building Living Landscapes

Engaging in play, creativity, learning and fun in outdoor classroom

A School Fun Run sponsored prize in 2021 has allowed Ngāti Toa School to develop their school outdoor environment in ways that respond to their vision and values. The project has been led by ākonga and supported by whānau and kaiako and has led to new ideas to explore for the future. This story is written by the Enviro project leaders to report on their amazing mahi.

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Ecological Building Zero Waste

Reusing, Repurposing and Rethinking Resource Use at Centennial Park

Centennial Park School in Te Kūiti embeds reusing and repurposing materials and rethinking the concept of ‘waste’ as they adapt and grow as a school community. Through exploring ways of thinking and acting that embody principles of circular resource use and zero waste, the school has, in recent years, undertaken a number of projects to transform their systems and physical space.

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Ecological Building Te Ao Māori

Waharoa celebrates cultures and values at Clayton Park Kindergarten

In the corner of the playground at Clayton Park Kindergarten in Tāmaki Makaurau an aging structure needed some love and attention. Through a process of working with tamariki and whānau, with advice from the local hapū and an artist, a beautiful waharoa emerged that celebrates local cultures and values.

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Ecological Building

Getting our heads, hearts and hands into Ecological Building

Not everyone has confidence in themselves as a “builder", but as the team from Enviroschools Te Upoko o Te Ika a Māui found out on their Ecological Building Team Day in March 2022, there are myriad ways to experience this Enviroschools Theme Area, and a great way to get your head around it, is to get hands-on.

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Ecological Building Sustainable Communities

Surplus puaka and provocations lead to Lees Street Kindergarten Sharing Shelf

Lees Street Kindergarten in Invercargill, Southland was a recent recipient of an Earthwise grant in 2021. This enabled them to get materials for a project that considered how to share surplus from their gardens with the community. Find out more about this tamariki-led inquiry that follows the Enviroschools Action Learning Cycle, explores community, sustainability, manaakitanga and building design.

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Ecological Building Learning for Sustainability

ākonga are air aware

Cromwell Primary School partnership with NIWA builds understanding of classroom air quality. An incredible learning inquiry at Cromwell, using the real-life issue of air quality in the classroom, highlights the value of this learning approach and issues around healthy classrooms.

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Ecological Building Sustainable Communities

Well-constructed process supports building an Adobe Wall at Raglan Kindergarten

This story was shared by the teachers and tamariki at Raglan Kindergarten in 2017 after they followed a process of ecological building discovery and learning. They explored adobe building as a way to connect to people and place and worked with community experts to create adobe structures. Read more about this experiential process.

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Ecological Building Sustainable Communities

Healthy Homes for all

To test ideas about how to work effectively with young people to build their understanding of healthy homes, a pilot programme was run at at Maeroa Intermediate in Kirikiriroa/ Hamilton. A partnership between Beacon and Toimata Foundation saw the trial of Healthy Homes education with 10–12-yr olds, leveraging expert knowledge of Home Performance Advisors and Enviroschools kaupapa and processes.

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Ecological Building Learning for Sustainability

Tiny Build creates big opportunities at Opunake High School

Opunake High School teachers and Board of Trustees saw the benefit of engaging students in a hands-on trade skills project. They wanted to move learning from technical drawing and design of scale model tiny homes further, creating an actual dwelling, so that students could gain essential construction skills to complement the concept and design processes. Read more about how this has developed.

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Ecological Building Empowered Learners

Why did the penguins come to live at Sue's house?

When a little blue penguin chose to move in beneath teacher Sue’s house, her students started a learning journey about the habitat and plight of this native bird. Find out more about this enquiry that led to ecological building construction on a small scale.

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Ecological Building Living Landscapes

Ecological building principles are woven through Landscape design at Waikino School

In 2018 students at Waikino School worked with a local permaculture designer to explore ways of incorporating ecological structures in their garden area. This resulted in a combination of approaches that were integrated to create a diverse living landscape.

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Ecological Building Empowered Learners

Cooking up creative ideas and leaving an ecological building legacy

What if students could harvest food needed for a recipe from school land and prepare this in a purpose-built kitchen right next to the gardens? How could students contribute to this process? Learn more about the Hukanui Living Room Kitchen and the involvement that students had in the design and build.

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Ecological Building Empowered Learners Learning for Sustainability Living Landscapes

Kai Project Feeds Student Imagination at Waikino

On a Friday at Waikino School, you’ll see students in their house groups following their latest Enviroschools initiative – working together to create a healthy, peaceful school environment. At any one time there might be several mini Action Learning Cycles underway, linked to or feeding off one another...

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Ecological Building Empowered Learners Sustainable Communities

Opunake Students Develop Building Skills to Create Chicken Motels to Rehabilitate Ex-battery Hens

A group of Sustainability Academy students from Opunaki High School get more than warm fuzzies from a chicken housing project that creates further learning and engagement. Read more about the chain of events that these students undertook to ensure the rehabilitation of their rescued chickens.

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Ecological Building Empowered Learners

Students Review Building Design Elements for Effectiveness

Students at Lincoln High School in Canterbury undertook an inquiry into design, materials and building construction to learn more about a special space at their Enviroschool where people now enjoy learning and teaching in. Here are excerpts from the report that Lucy, Amelia and Ashleigh put together. The full report can be found through the link below.

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Ecological Building Empowered Learners Learning for Sustainability Living Landscapes

Living, Learning and Exploring at Halfmoon Bay School

Halfmoon Bay School on Rakiura (Stewart Island) has a strong focus on using the natural environment in learning programmes. Enviroschools Facilitator Hannah Sim was a guest of the school's for their Bronze Reflection, and went on an amazing wilderness adventure with the students...

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Ecological Building Learning for Sustainability Living Landscapes

Bugs With Benefits

Meaningful teaching and learning out in the environment builds problem solving, literacy, numeracy and practical skills. Enviroschools Teacher Aide Ashlee Bryant tells us how the students from Room 13 at West Harbour School controlled aphids in their class vegetable garden through designing and building bug hotels

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Ecological Building Living Landscapes

Children Discover Connections in a Place Designed to Nurture

Cambridge Kindergarten have woven the Enviroschools Guiding Principles through an early childhood outdoor building and landscapes project. Their vision: To create an inspiring outdoor environment for children to enjoy and develop their full potential.

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Ecological Building Empowered Learners Respect for Diversity Sustainable Communities

Mararoa School a Shining Example of Sustainability Leadership

Mararoa School in Fiordland are leaders in sustainability. Their school values of caring for yourself, caring for others and caring for the environment, are woven throughout all aspects of schools life. Enviroschools Facilitator Pat Hoffman shares her experience of her time spent at Mararoa during their reflection to become a Silver Enviroschool.

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Ecological Building Empowered Learners

Students Design and Build a New Sustainable Whare Heihei!

The students at Granity School have used their powers of action research and sustainable thinking to design and build a new whare heihei. With multiple challenges at hand the students have brainstormed and planned all the criteria that a West Coast chook house needs to last the distance.

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