A Hamilton primary school that has been leading the way in dynamic education strategies is at it again as the first stages of their very own eco island comes to completion.
Rhode Street School is known for its diverse learning initiatives and principal Shane Ngatai said the new eco island would be something enjoyed by the entire community and beyond, being open to every other school in the country.
The idea came about three years ago when a group of environmentally minded students known as the Green Team were on their way back from a trip to the Maungatautari ecological island, when a student asked why they couldn't have an environment like that in their own back yard.
"I just turned around and said, well why not. And that was the start of the whole project," said Mr Ngatai.
They have literally built an island, on a rugby field, in a city school, and it's the first in the world.
After intense research the project got underway a year ago when 60,000 cubic metres of topsoil was dumped on the school's rugby field.
"The students went to the city council and got a list of all the property developers in this area that were building new homes, then they went down that list and found some that were close enough to the school and approached them, and convinced them that it was far more economical to bring a truck load of top soil to Rhode Street and pay nothing, as opposed to taking it to Horotiu and paying $160 a truckload."
In return for saving them money, the company allowed the use of their diggers to help move the soil to where it was needed. And so it began. The ideas just kept coming.
"They [the students] wanted a classroom on the island so that A: they can stay out of the weather, and B: study the animals and the flora and the fauna on the island. So they approached an architect, Tim Gisler at Gisler Architects in Te Awamutu and they asked him to come up with a concept plan for the classroom," said Ngatai.
Gisler agreed to come on board without cost and with the help of the children; a plan was created to use three shipping containers in a 'u' formation that will house an interactive whiteboard with ipads, a science lab, and a maimai.
This idea, Ngatai said, also came from the students and was taken from the pop-up village that was built in Christchurch after the earthquake.
"One of our students was lucky enough to get invited to speak at a conference for economists at Canterbury University, so she flew down there did her conference key note at the age of 10, in front of 300 economists, and while she was there she organised to meet the creator of the pop-up village. She met him and got all the information about how to use shipping containers to make a retail space," he said.
"These are the types of kids we create at this school."
Ngatai was told by Gisler that they would have to source the shipping containers, which in turn brought another significant New Zealand disaster a silver lining.
"I contacted Sealink, a company that specialises in recycling shipping containers. "We asked for providence on these containers, and it had transcribed that they had come from the Rena. But to get three of the big containers over here was going to cost a fortune. But we are really fortunate that we invited the directors of the company here a year ago, they saw what we were trying to achieve and sold us the containers for cost, for next to nothing.
"Not only that but they cut the window frames in to the containers, and the door frames, and strengthened them with the steel to meet the engineering requirements, for next to nothing.
"Then the transport company brought them over for next to nothing."
But it hasn't all been smooth sailing. As the school sits on a peat swamp, Mr Ngatai had to enlist the help of geo-tech engineer, Bob Taylor.
Thankfully, Mr Taylor jumped on board and Bunnings also joined in sourcing the huge treated piles needed for the project.
Mr Ngatai said the island would not have been possible without the generosity of the numerous businesses involved, including their great relationship with DOC.
"To date the project has cost around $100,000 but we're lucky if we have spent $10,000," he said.
The next stage of the project is building the pond and stream surrounding the island for the eels and fresh water crayfish, and the installation of solar panels on top of the containers.
Mr Ngatai said the Green Team is all set to approach companies specialising in these products at Fieldays in June.