School celebrates a decade of planting along the Halswell awa

On a clear, blue-skied day in May, ākonga/students from Tai Tapu School marched down to the Huritini awa/Halswell River to get their hands dirty. For ten years the school has been using the river corridor as an outdoor classroom, fostering a deep connection to nature.

Armed with gloves and shovels, ākonga worked hard to plant and guard 600 tōtara, kāpuka, horoeka, koromiko, and mingimingi seedlings over the day. The Tai Tapu students didn’t shy away from this hands-on work – in fact, the school has been doing this for over a decade.

In 2012, ākonga and kaiako/teachers decided to start planting native trees along the river to restore the area and make it a thriving habitat for birdlife. A year later they paired up with Te Ara Kākāriki, a charitable trust based in Selwyn, who provided the plants and guidance that kickstarted the decade-long project of environmental stewardship.

Learning in nature's classroom

For Enviroschools facilitator Matt Stanford, the Tai Tapu School planting was the first project he got involved with, all the way back in 2013. He now regularly visits the site to assist with planting and teaching ākonga about native wildlife conservation.

“We match schools with sites that are as close to the school as possible so they can use them independently as outdoor classrooms, and this increases their sense of connection to that place,” Matt explained.

Blossoming beyond trees

Over the years, the Huritini awa site has blossomed into much more than just tree planting. Tai Tapu ākonga have used the area for the Garden Bird Survey, harvesting harakeke for weaving that previous students had planted, and even created a QR trail as part of their ICT learning curriculum.

Excitingly, the project has seen a ripple effect within the community. During the most recent planting, the pathway along the river was visited by many walkers which Matt noted was significant because, in 2012, locals didn’t even realise there was river access in the area.

Recent developments have also seen adjacent landowners participating in the restoration efforts.

Legacy of growth

The native trees planted at the project's beginning have now been established, and it amazes ākonga to walk through the site and realise that the students before them created this ngahere/forest.

“Taking a hīkoi/walk along the Huritini awa is like walking a timeline of growth over the last 11 years," said Matt, "but there is plenty left to do!”