Senior secondary school environment leaders came together at the Brook-Waimārama Sanctuary for a hui to connect, share ideas, and to motivate their school’s Envirogroup.
The hui created space for students to build relationships across schools — bringing together leaders from Nayland College, Nelson Boys’ College, Nelson College for Girls, Garin College, and Waimea College. They reflected on what worked well last year, and shared ideas to take back to their kura, whether they’re strengthening an Envirogroup, starting new projects, or looking for fresh ways to get more students involved.
With Waimārama Sanctuary as the backdrop, the day began with whakawhanaungatanga and kai, before Rick led the group through the sanctuary to the outdoor classroom, sharing how the space has grown over the last 18 years and what’s planned for the future. Students then slowed down and tuned into nature, and moved into mixed-school small groups to unpack ideas and respond to prompts together.
Student-to-student leadership: Petra shared practical lessons from leading a school Environment group, including what helped build momentum and make her school’s environment group a success.- What’s next for 2026: schools identified what went well (and what didn’t) last year, then set intentions and next steps for the year ahead.
- Making it work in a secondary setting: a resource was shared that had been recently published by the Enviroschools National Organisation (Toimata Foundation) to support secondary students with procedures, processes, ideas and events to run an effective Envirogroup.
- Staying connected: leaders explored leadership strategies, meeting structure, and how the group wants to communicate during the year (including the idea of a WhatsApp group).
Feedback from a student confirmed the purpose of the hui had been achieved:
I really enjoyed connecting with like-minded rangatahi and identifying the importance of enviro groups and how to make events and meetings enjoyable.
Ngā mihi to the Enviroschools Facilitators who helped make the hui happen, and to the Brrok-Waimārama Sanctuary for hosting the workshop. We’re excited to see what each school’s Envirogroup takes on this year — watch this space for updates, celebrations, and ways to get involved.