As schools prepare to wrap up for Christmas, Rhode Street Primary School is reflecting on the year their Eco Island adventure began.
The Eco Island, which started a year ago when 60,000 cubic metres of topsoil was dumped on the school's rugby field, now features three large shipping containers decked
out with various learning equipment, and will eventually boast a pest proof fence, a stream surrounding the island for eels and fresh water crayfish, and the installation of solar panels on the top of the containers.
Principal Shane Ngatai said the idea for the island came about three years ago when a group of environmentally minded students known as the Green Team were on their way back from a trip to the eco island on Maungatautari, when a student asked why they couldn't have an environment like that in their own back yard.
"They have literally built an island, on a rugby field, in a city school, and it's the first in the world," he said.
"It's been a busy year. We've just won a Cannon Enviro Award and received more than $4000 worth of product for the island, and we got $11,000 in funding from the Waikato Regional Council. We were also gifted science equipment from Tainui Group Holdings. It came from Hopu Hopu Endowment College. That was their koha to help with the island."
