A group of West Eyreton School students planted 250 seedlings at Bennetts Stream near Oxford.
A group of West Eyreton School students planted 250 seedlings at Bennetts Stream near Oxford.
A group of Eyreton School students planted 250 native seedlings at Bennetts Stream, near Oxford, in North Canterbury.
Twenty Year 3 and 4 students took part in planting the seedlings, which they had grown in their school greenhouse.
Irrigation cooperative Waimakariri Irrigation Limited supports the school through its seedlings inschools programme.
The programme provides a greenhouse, seedlings and a biodiversity project team member who works closely with the school, providing practical environmental education to help students take action to improve the environment in their local area.
West Eyreton teacher Michelle Orr said the school had been working with Waimakariri Irrigation Limited’s biodiversity project lead, Dan Cameron, over the past six years, and his bi-monthly school visits have had a positive impact on the students.
“It was great for the students to come back to the Bennetts Stream site a year later to see how their original plants are growing and to plant more seedlings from our greenhouse,” Orr said.
“The students’ faces light up when Dan arrives for one of his sessions, and being outside doing something positive for the environment is a way that we can leave the land better than when we found it.”
Orr said the seedlings in schools project fits in well with the school’s science curriculum and offers a practical way for students to learn about the environment around them.
Cameron said the students were really engaged in the planting days.
He said this was because they cared for and raised the seedlings themselves and played a key role in the growing process.
“Being involved in the entire lifecycle of the plants is key, and from here we will go back and plant the next lot of seeds in the greenhouse at the school, ready to begin the cycle again.”
Waimakariri Irrigation Limited biodiversity project lead Dan Cameron helps West Eyreton school students Liam O’Malley (9) and Keira Mather (8) plant a native seedling at Bennetts Stream near Oxford.
Year 3 student Keira Mather planted around 30 native seedlings with her two friends during the planting day.
She said learning to put together the plant guards was the trickiest part of the day.
“The plant guards were a bit hard to put together, but we worked on it in our groups.
“I want to come back here in the future and see the mudfish doing well.”
Cameron said the long-term goal for the site was to enable greater public access for recreational use.
“It’s a work in progress as we need to take care to enrich the riparian margin while also learning more about the diverse species, such as Canterbury mudfish and tadpole shrimp that inhabit the stream, so we protect their habitat.”
