Arrival at Arai Te Uru Marae.
At the end of October 2022, years 4 – 6 students from around Ōtepoti/ Dunedin and their kaiako gathered for a day at Araiteuru Marae to practise tikanga, connect with the whenua and the natural world, learn from a rongoā expert and lots more!
“It was a great day bringing like-minded children together.” – teacher feedback
The hui started with a pōwhiri and whakawhanaunga process that helped set the scene and settle the participants into this special place and get to know each other. Tania Williams, Araiteuru Marae manager, welcomed visitors, supported the wide marae community. The wātaka for the hui was filled with a range of activities that helped exploring natural building, rongoā, stream monitoring and soil health, interspersed with fun and experiential enviro games. The images below help show the success of this interactive day.
“All activities were fun and interesting and new.” – student comment
Flamboyant wahine Tania Williams, Araiteuru Marae manager, welcomed visitors onto the Marae.
Whakawhanaungatanga
E neke, e kanikani.
Kai tahi.
“It was so cool to have tamariki learning tikanga.” – kaiako comment
Kane, Kaiārahi at Para Kore Ōtepoti provides valuable instruction about identification and rongoā properties.
A sensory experience.
“The world is our medicine- you can heal yourself.”- student
Otago Regional Council Catchment advisor, Harriet Love, explains the different ways of assessing stream health.
Identifying macroinvertebrates along the awa.
“I want to come here again and also would love to do river testing again.” – student comment
Getting different perspectives on the environment – soil health
testing soil
Hands-on natural building.
Focused on natural building design.
“This event will ignite passion for Enviroschools at our school and help us grow.” – kaiako feedback
“It was a great day bringing like-minded children together.” – kaiako feedback
The organising team have a quick check in.
The Enviroschools team – feeling proud of a successful event.
“He ako whakahira! I hui mātou i tērā wiki ki Te Araiteuru marae. A pōwhiri welcoming us to start the day. We heard some pūrakau from the area and enjoyed sharing kai together. We learnt about plants as rongoā from Kane, Kaiārahi at Para Kore Ōtepoti. We learnt about stream and water health from Harriet, a Catchment Advisor at Otago Regional Council. The Ōtepoti Enviroschools Facilitators used some of the Ecological Building Resources as we thought about habitat and homes. Nature art and games, followed by a closing karakia for our haerenga home. He rā ātaahua! A beautiful day!” – The Enviroschools Ōtepoti team