Year Two Look at Life Cycles

 Year Two got scientific today looking at life cycles.  We discussed the life cycles we already knew. McKenzie knew about butterflies starting out at eggs then caterpillars and chrysalises. 

We then learnt how honey bees also follow the insect life cycle - egg, larva, pupa and adult.

We watched a video, acted out the stages, labelled and diagram and finally wrote a sentence about each stage.

Before our break Ms Everitt read a funny picture book about metamorphosis.  

To finish our session we took action by spreading mulch under our fruit trees.  We saw lots of bees on the blossoms.

Next time we will learn about bee anatomy.

Yr 2 Busy Bees

 Today, our Year 2 classes investigated our Waka bees.

What do you already know about bees Room 10 &11?

A bee landed on my hand but it didn't sting me - Amelia

A bee went on my mum's flower shirt - Daniel

Grayson - I've seen a big fat bee on the butterfly flowers at my grandma's house

Ryder - They have a stinger

Bees can't fly in rain - Willow

They are good for the environment.  Without bees we can't live - Zara

Miracle - A bee landed on my flower and collected all the nectar

A boy bee is a drone  - Sophia

Hudson - bees pollinate and make honey for the hive

Eva - Bees love lavendar

McKenzie - Bees like pollen

Ezra - If bees sting you they die.

Oaklyn - you can give flowers to the bees.

Cern - I saw a bee t my kindy.

Daniel - bees can fly one km

Bees make honey for the babies to eat - Ronika?

What do you already know about bees Rooms 8 & 9?

I buried a bee - Jacob

They make honey - Katerina

Olive - they collect nectar

Lilly - when we're sick honey can make us feel better

Zoey - they use honey to fix turtle shells

Kahlany - Jade - bees pollinate

You can make a drink with hot water and honey -Erin

Bees die if they sting because the sting is part of their body - Adison

Haneet - bees live in honey comb

Bees only sting they think you are a threat - Andrei

Super ideas!  What great knowledge.

We visited our very own Waka Bees!

We met Beatrice, she had lots of information about bees.

Next we got our very own bee books and recorded what we had learnt today in sentences.

After morning tea, Room 10 & 11 moved mulch to get our whare heihei ready for new chickens. 

After lunch Room 8 & 9 took part in the whakatau.

Next time, we're going to learn about the bee life cycle. 

Year 1 Finding Kai

 Today, Year Tahi had their first Education for Sustainability lesson with Ms Daniel and Ms Everitt.  We started off the session by looking at different kai (food). We named them and talked about whether we had tried them. We then put the foods into groups.  Some tamariki grouped by colour or food type, while others grouped by size. We had lots of good conversations with our group members about the kai and how to make the groups.

Afterwards, we found the hidden kai in a fun picture puzzle.

We then went for a walk around our kura (school) to discover our green spaces and where we grow food.

Lastly, we drew cute cartoon fruits.

Our afternoon group were very hot and bothered, so we started with some mindfulness.

Later we took the oportunity to explore our native bush walk and enjoyed connecting with nature.

Next week we are going to try the pears that we picked and learn how to make seeds grow.  See you then Year One.

Haere Mai 2026 & Welcome International Students

 Welcome back for another fun sustainable year at our GreenGold Enviroschool!

Today Ms Everitt & Ms Daniel took our International Students and their buddies for a taster session of what our Education for Sustainability programme is all about.

Firstly, we went on a scavenger hunt around the kura to see all the places that make us a GreenGold School. Our visitors couldn't believe we have bees, chickens, fruit trees, vegetable gardens, compost, worm farms and lots of ways to sort our waste.

Next stop was the Mara Kai.  We harvested a marrow and planted marigolds for the bees.  It was great to see our kumara plants had grown so much over the summer.

Back at the EFS room, we grated up the marrow and made delicious veggie pancakes.  Everyone got a turn flipping their own.

Lastly, we tried honey made by our own Waka Bees.

Thanks for visiting!

Check out all the photos here

Year Three's Sustainable Celebrations

 Year 3 took tome out in nature to be mindful at this busy time of year.  First we made nature mandalas and drew mandalas.  

Afterward we read The Christmas Caravan by Jennifer Beck and made sustainable  decorations just like in the story.

How will you minimise your waste this Christmas?

Year One Working with Water Care

 

Today Year One's EFS lesson was with Sarah from Watercare.  We discovered where the water in our taps comes from - The Waikato River, aquifers & dams.  Did you know Watercare has 12 dams in Tamaki Makaurau? 

We thought about all the ways we used water this morning; toilet flushes, facewashing, toothbrushing, handwashing, dishwasher, shower, and even a robotmop/vaccuum, 

We learnt how to be Water Saving Heroes:

- turn off the tap when we brush our teeth or use a cup (20 litres can be wasted if the tap is left running)

- use the small button when we flush the toilet (Yes, the small button can be used for number twos. It takes 12 litres to flush the big button and just 7 for the small)

- fill the bath less (a full bath takes 200 litres of water)

- use your bath water on the plants or share your bathtime

- have a short shower (showers take 12 litres of water a minute)

Each tamariki are bringing home a shower timer to help them and their whanau

be Water Saving Superheroes. Thank you Watercare!!

If we are careful with our water it's great for the environment as the water will stay in our dam lakes, aquifers and rivers.

Lastly we used our superpowers of problem solving and collaboration to create super fun water courses. 

Afterwards we identified ways a family were wasting water on a diagram and wrote about what we had learnt.

Thank you to Sarah and Watercare for a wonderful learning experience!