Restoring the Enviroschool focus at Ōtūru

One of the new tunnel houses at Ōtūru School. Photo / supplied

Ōtūru School, just outside Kaitaia, has taken another step towards reclaiming its position as one of the leading Enviroschools in New Zealand.

Before the brand new school was built last year it had achieved a Green-Gold Enviroschool level, the highest that schools can attain, by demonstrating that it was promoting the wellbeing of the students and whānau through the care of its natural environment and resources. The orchard and greenhouses had to be removed to make way for the new buildings, however, and while the new school was badly needed, and has been well received, the kaupapa that made Ōtūru special has been sorely missed.

But efforts are being made to regain its hard-earned status. A new orchard has been planted, a parent has generously donated land nearby, and now there is a native tree area just outside the classrooms.

The next step in the journey was to set up greenhouses set up. Three 9m tunnel houses were donated by the Takapuna Rotary Club, and have now been assembled by caretaker Ron Williams.

Ray Whites new salesman, Marty Yuretich, gave Ron a hand while he was awaiting his real estate licence, believing that it would be a great service to the community, but the job proved to be a bit bigger than he had first imagined. Raised beds were built on both sides of each tunnel, a bench for potting and propagation was built and a tap installed in each for easy watering. And his efforts were well rewarded.

"I loved working with the kids who helped us build the benches and then shovel and wheelbarrow 12 cubic metres of soil into the beds,'' Yuretich said.

Principal Sacha Williams was as excited as anyone to see the tunnel houses finally finished, one for each rōpū - junior, middle and senior. They will be used to grow vegetables and native seedlings for planting within the school, and also for sale. And they can't wait to restore the tradition of hosting an annual harvest festival, where vegetables grown by the students were used to feed whānau and friends.

Stacey Cowell, lead Enviroschools teacher at Ōtūru, said she too was pleased to see the tunnel houses ready to use. They would support the very localised Ōtūrutanga kaupapa, while the opportunity to teach the tamariki about and using the whenua was one of the reasons was one of the factors that had led her to the school.

Carters Kaitaia discounted some materials for the gardens, and Jack Rogers, from Rogers & Rogers Plumbing, supplied all the irrigation, including pipes fittings and taps. Gary Robertson, from Matthews Coastline, at Aurere, came up with a great price for the topsoil.

Morag Vasilaki, the facilitator for Enviroschools for the Northern Regional Council, said 25 per cent of schools in Northland were now part of the Enviroschools programme, and were committed to sustainability.

The staff and tamariki were grateful to everyone who helped get the tunnel houses up and ready, and couldn't wait to start using them.