Te Puru students are connecting with their unique location on the water's edge at Thames Coast through Kura Tatahi. Photo / Alison Smith
Te Puru students are connecting with their unique location on the water's edge at Thames Coast through Kura Tatahi. Photo / Alison Smith
For a long time, Te Puru School didn't make the most of its incredible location by the sea.
"We had a beach there, but kids were just playing on it at morning tea and lunch, and not really learning," say teachers Hayley Fenton and Jason Bax. "We're in such a ridiculously unique position here and we want to make the most of it."
Jason says the school had a magnificent waharoa (gateway) and whakatauki (Māori proverb), which was given by one of the elders of the iwi of the area, Ngati Tamatera.
But what those represented wasn't really understood or appreciated.
"The idea came to learn about our local environment, to evolve our local history and tikanga from Ngati Tamatera," Jason says.
"It was a chance for us to meet some of our te reo and tikanga obligations as well, and to connect these kids to the environment," adds Hayley.
The primary school of 190 students sits on the Firth of Thames overlooking the internationally significant 8500-hectare coastal wetland on the other side of the coast.
The coast faces its pressures, including sea level rise and erosion, water quality and litter - the students have identified some of the rubbish comes from aquaculture such as mussel farms further up the coast.
Their learning programme Kuratatahi is now providing students with three days a week of learning in the environment, exploring nature by kayak, mask and snorkel - and with inquiring minds.
Jason Bax and Hayley Fenton at Te Puru School. Photo / Alison Smith
Adventure Education, water safety, environmental sustainability, ecology and hauora (health) are the focus, and embedded into the classroom curriculum now is the waiata (song) that relates to this specific area and which the students sing daily on arrival and hometime.
They learned local place names - Te-tara-o-te-ika, Te Puru, Tararu, Tapu, Waiomu, Te Mata, Kuranui, Ngarimu, Ruamahunga, Whakatete and Te Wharau - and were gifted the whakatauki from the Ngati Tamatera elder.
Adds Hayley: "We've really transformed what's happening in the classroom through our iwi."
Attendance has improved on days that the programme is held and after a successful first year, it's been increased from two to three days a week.
"We are extremely proud of our programme," says Hayley.
Both teachers laugh when asked - although it is obvious - if they love their job.
"We can't believe we get paid to do this."
Each day begins with a walk on the beach, and Jason says the students don't just play, they are learning to be guardians and advocates of where they live and learn.
"Their eyes are always open to seeing things in the environment. We've found prawns in the sand we haven't seen 10 years ago, and the seagrass growing further upstream where it didn't before. We've also taught them to read the birds' body language, so they know how to act around them."
Subjects are often led by the students' interest, and have included baby birds, the relationship between birds and the forest, climate change and inanga (whitebait).
One of the non-negotiables is leaving the natural environment as when you arrive - unless that's picking up litter.
"We did a lesson on mussel restoration in the wild, and we looked at mussel farms and did a waste audit of the litter on the beach, such as [mussel] ropes. We talk about that, and made a piece of art with the litter. The kids did a waste audit and are thinking about how to find a solution."
