LATEST STORIES
Exploring the Wonders of Worms
Over the last couple of months, we have been very busy at BestStart Pipiwai Kindy. Not only have we been enjoying the many seasons in one day here in Northland but we have been exploring and developing our understanding around Papatuanuku. This included making seaweed juice that was then used to nurture our plants, vegetables, and flowers. It was also bottled and sent home for those who wanted some too.
We also welcomed Cezanne from Ecosolutions who helped us with our worm farm. Our worm farm was doing really well, however, the tap was broken and so with a reshuffle and a new worm farm, we moved our worms into their new home. With the remaining "brown gold" we watered it down a little and put it around our fruit trees at Kindy as well as a little for our strawberries. The remainder was put into tins that were from the recycling bin for whanau to take home and unsurprisingly it didn't last long in our pataka kai.
These are all a sample of the amazing mahi we have been doing over the last couple of years, which has resulted in BestStart Pipiwai Kindy becoming the first ECE centre in Northland to receive Silver Reflection within the Enviroschools kaupapa. This has been a wonderful journey where we have learned a lot about our awa that flows alongside us as well as being successful in a variety of grants where we have been able to plant along both sides of the awa.
This journey will be ongoing, however, the hard work has been done. We have been supported throughout this by our whanau who have donated time and resources. We have also enjoyed a variety of experiences, such as carpentry where we have been practicing our hand-eye coordination, coming up with a plan and making it come to life or simply practicing a woodwork skill like screwing or hammering. We are blessed with a large outside space and so are able to practice on a range of different bikes. We have just finished a focus around Taha Tinana where we have been learning about our physical health and how important it is to look after ourselves.
This has also included a focus on healthy eating, emotional growth, and developing our resilience all while supporting each other and cheering each other on as we try new things and practice a skill until mastery occurs. We love to support our wider community and recently we hosted a yellow day where we raised money for The New Zealand Cancer Society. Yellow Day involved a wide range of experiences that were yellow.
Yellow goop was a favorite followed by getting creative inside with scissors, glue, and yellow paper. Lindsay from the Maori Achievement Collaborative has been working with Kaiako on supporting Maori learners as Maori. We have enjoyed getting to know Lindsay and being able to understand how we can best support our Maori tamariki. We have been learning about pepeha and how it can look different for Maori and non-Maori and both are beautiful.
We are looking forward to a long and beneficial relationship with Lindsay as we navigate through an important journey. We are looking forward and having a few events planned, including; a School Holiday Programme for the September school holidays, a bake sale to raise money to feed our hungry chickens, and potting mix for the seedlings we will be growing. Please do pop in should you wish to check us out and chat with the team.