Enviroschool Interview with Radio New Zealand

I enjoyed listening to Ned and Samantha being interviewed by Jim Rose on Chris Laidlaw's sunday morning radio show. The whole article is 45 minutes long but Ned and Samantha are first up. they did really well - sounded so articulate and confident. We have become a leading school through our Gold award. Overall it is also an interesting discussion about education and action learning.

Listen here

Amazing website

In an email chat staff were having around a website called Free Rice that involves children playing learning games to donate rice on correct answers to countries that are experiencing famine, Stephen introduced this stunning, factual website called Breathing Earth on population growth and CO2 emissions. Check it out and be amazed, educated and challenged all at once.

Solar Power at Muritai

We always have new things on the go at Muritai. One of the latest things is the prospect of linking up with Genesis energy and their SchoolGen programme. Schoolgen is a programme developed by Genesis Energy to bring solar energy to life for children and schools across New Zealand. When our year 5 and 8 children looked at renewable resources as part of their inquiry, solar and wind power was investigated very closely by the children as potential dominant forces when oil is no longer available. Working with Matt Skilton and Stephen Eames we have got ourselves involved in the process to bring solar power to Muritai. Today we were visited by a team from Genesis Energy and Lulu, Georgie and Ned gave our visitors a very thorough tour of our school with a specific focus on the Enviroschool programme which is such a dominant part of our daily life. This is the big world in action. Well done team and fingers crossed for sustainable energy at Muritai School.

Dunes for restoration

As a village school we try to play our part in keeping up our profile in the community. This involves being responsible and making a contribution. One way we do this is through our Enviroschool strategy. Kirsten Berry has posted some information about being involved in the Dunes for Restoration project. They also managed to see some nesting Blue Penguins and understand the power of why we look after and enhance the environment. Karen Chao has posted room 11 rubbish collection on World Environment Day. Kids love to be part of making the world a better place. Starting close to home is the best way to do this. Check out our enviroschool blog while you are having a look.

Room 4 - Protecting our future?

Hayley Skilton teachers a year 2 class in room 4. Hayley used to be our thinking skills teacher before returning back to full time teaching last year. The children really benefit for her extensive experience. I really like the way the she has blogged a simple example of EOTC. Muritai, of course, has a split site - our senior school is on the other side of the room. Hayley has used our senior school as an example to see our Enviroschool energy source as her young children inquire about and study the concept of Friendly Footprints. They visited the year 7 and 8 to get a background as to why Muritai is determined to achieve Green/Gold status by the end of this year. Our senior students are only too happy to share their learning journey. For us to be an Enviroschool our younger students need to be part of the movement as well. Have a look at the room 4 expedition and how they shaped their journey by visiting their blog. 

Vege garden in place

Kirsten Berry and her class, room 22, with the help of Emily Tilley, a parent of the school, have been working through the process for starting a vegetable garden in the senior school. This is part of their commitment to our school focus of being an enviroschool. We hope to receive our gold award this year and join the 10 or so other schools around NZ with this honour. Yesterday they completed the project with planting and have captured the journey on their class blog. Please have a look at the great things going on in room 22 on their blog.

Enviroschools

I was thrilled to see the Enviroschools blog this morning. The teachers have spent some time showing us all about what they are doing as we seek to receive our Green/Gold award some time this year. It is very much a focus for the school and the children are right on board as we try to emphasize environmentally sustainable practices. Have a look at what is going on at http://www.muritaienviro.blogspot.com