From left: Toko School enviro leaders Maisie McCowan, 13, Holly Topless, 13, Enviroschools school facilitator Sue Rine, Enviroschools regional co-ordinator Lauree Jones and Toko School principal Kim Waite.
From left: Toko School enviro leaders Maisie McCowan, 13, Holly Topless, 13, Enviroschools school facilitator Sue Rine, Enviroschools regional co-ordinator Lauree Jones and Toko School principal Kim Waite.
What started as a donation of fruit trees in 2011 has now turned into obtaining the highest achievement in the nationwide Enviroschools programme.
Last Tuesday Toko School pupils, staff, whānau, and the wider community celebrated the school receiving the Beyond Green Gold Award.
Principal Kim Waite says to celebrate the milestone, Stratford District Mayor Neil Volzke and his deputy Min McKay, the wider community, Enviroschools regional co-ordinator Lauree Jones and school facilitator Sue Rine were invited to the school for a fun day of activities.
“It was a chance to celebrate the achievement with the people who have helped us get to this stage. We welcomed the guests with a pōwhiri, and then we took part in a number of fun activities and the children enjoyed a bouncy castle, a slippery slide, games, and plenty of food to eat with a sausage sizzle and icecream.”
Since the donation of trees, the school has been involved in the Enviroschools programme, a national programme aimed at teaching pupils about sustainable living.
Schools work through a level-based award system where they first earn a bronze award, with the option of then working towards further awards or levels. Each Enviroschool has a facilitator who works to support and guide its vision for a sustainable future.
The school received its first Enviroschools accolade in 2013, obtaining the Bronze Award. In 2015 they received the Silver Award and in 2016 they were awarded Green Gold status.
To achieve Beyond Green Gold status, the school had to reflect on their Enviroschools journey, Kim says.
“A month ago we spent a day with Enviroschools staff where we discussed what we had done since becoming Green Gold. It was a great opportunity for the kids to reflect on what they had been doing around the school. Each class brainstormed what they wanted to share which was then presented to the Enviroschools team.”
Since the donation of the fruit trees, Kim says the school has flourished and continued to grow on its sustainability journey.
“So much has happened since then, we have bees, chickens, worms, an orchard, plants and so much more. Since we became Green Gold we started our distilling which has gone very well. The students demonstrated the entire process of growing the plants, to distilling them and making products.”
Toko School enviro leaders Lockie Maketoni, 13, and Liam Johnstone, 7, cutting the celebratory cake.
She says the Enviroschools programme is great for teaching pupils valuable life skills.
“It’s practical learning. They become scientists and mathematicians and learn skills that will help them in the future. When speaking to people they can’t believe how articulate the pupils are about their learning. It just shows how passionate these children are about sustainability. Being able to share things is a skill in itself so as well as practical learning the pupils are also learning communicative skills as well.”
It also gives the pupils a taste of what they might like to do in the future.
“It’s opening their minds to the endless possibilities that are available for them, whether it be pest control, scientific or anything. It’s setting them up for life and they’re sharing their learning outside of school with their families which in turn is teaching others about sustainability.”
None of this would be possible without the support of the wider community.
“We have parents and grandparents of past pupils who come in and help us. We need those experts because this is a learning journey for both the pupils and staff. The support of everyone around us allows our sustainability journey to keep getting bigger and better.”
Lauree says Toko School was the first Taranaki school to reach Green Gold and Beyond Green Gold status.
“Sustainability is at the heart of what the school does, all the way through. Every classroom is involved and each pupil is an environmental champion. They can be proud of what they’ve achieved.”
