Feilding: St Joseph’s School attendance improves with bush walks

Once a week students from St Josephs School in Feilding walk the Almadale Reserve trail.

Attendance rates at St Joseph’s School in Feilding have improved since traditional classroom seasons were switched for bush adventures.

Once a week students walk the Almadale Reserve trail, studying bugs, learning about seeds versus spores, playing games, cooking, building forts and hanging hammocks.

It started after teacher Mark Searle wanted to help students build their confidence.

After a couple of training sessions, each teacher now takes their own class and the concept is fully ingrained in St Joseph’s curriculum.

“The attendance rate is always high on forest days. No one wants to miss out,” he said.

He said it takes a multitude of people to help make it happen, from parent volunteers to working with Manawatū District Council (MDC), and last week Aaron Madden, a biodiversity specialist employed through Green by Nature joined in to share his knowledge of plant species, trees and different types of soils.

The group’s regular visits have also resulted in a change at the reserve as well.

“When St Joseph’s first began visiting the reserve, the carparking was minimal. To help support their weekly visits, a larger clearing was made to enable safe parking for the cars required,” James Adamson MDC community assets liaison said.

For some families who move to New Zealand, the concept of the forest being a safe tranquil space is foreign, as it’s viewed as one of danger and not safe for children, he said.

This has been true for some families at St Joseph’s School and the weekly visits to Almadale Reserve has helped to build knowledge and awareness of hazards specific to the reserves.

The visits begin with reviewing boundaries at the reserve like staying with someone, the river, certain plants - before learning through play. The hands-on experience learned through the visits to the reserve are invaluable.

“Our reserves are to be enjoyed recreationally and educationally. Having the confidence in the space to play, explore and discover new things provides the starting blocks to apply that confidence across all aspects of life,” he said.