Eye on Nature Enviro Trip to Auckland Botanical Gardens

Last week a group of enthusiastic and passionate year 5 and 6 enviro students visited Auckland Botanical Gardens to learn more about how we can work together to help the environment. 

 'Ka tipu tahi tatou' 'Together We Grow' 

Activity One

Our first activity was learning about how things are powered - like appliances and vehicles. 

We played a game where we had to shovel coal to a coal box the fastest. 

This taught us that: 

                                   - coal is dirty 

                                   - shovelling coal is hard work!

                                   - it is not sustainable - we will eventually run out! 

 

We use a LOT of energy in our every day lives. 

Luckily, in New Zealand, much of our power is now generated using the wind or water.  

Powering a hairdryer using pedal power! 

Winding a handle to make lightbulbs work.
Some light bulks were easier to power than others.
LED light bulbs are the most efficient.

We can help the environment by: 

using less energy - switching off lights or devices when you're not home. 

Activity Two

Next we learnt about pest animals and how they are predators. 

  

Pests are animals that harm native birds and trees. We learnt about using a tracker tunnel, it has sticky stuck in inside it and when the pests walk in and out of it they leave footprints. Then we can work out what kind of (pest) footprints it matches. From this we can find out what kind of pests are harming the animals. 

Pests harm other animals because they are scared, to protect themselves or it is in their nature - like cats. 

Possums are pests that came to New Zealand. 

By Alaya & Ayla. 

We can help the environment by: 

trapping pests and monitoring their numbers.

Activity Three

Entering the 'ngahere' (forest) and learning about  the ecosystems there was the favourite activity! 

We used our senses to observe nature. We saw and heard lots of tūī,  some pīwakawaka (fantail), the tiny riroriro (grey warbler) and some tauhou (silvereye). 

We discussed what makes a healthy forest and how everything in the forest is connected, for example; the kererū feeds from the nikau palm tree and the weta and fungi live in this tree. 

We can help the environment by: 

planting more natives and taking care of them. 

Activity Four 

In groups the students designed a 'water scene' using materials given to them. 

Some made a waterfall, some a beach and one group made a river scene. 

 

 After 10 minutes something harmful was added to the scene and we talked about the effect it would have. 

We can help the environment by: 

keeping our waterways clean and rubbish free.

Our favourite activities were: 

1st = Exploring the bush 

2nd = Learning about pests

3rd = Energy and water care

Huge thank you to Eye on Nature Beautification Trust for organising this trip for us!

Moth Pod Season!

 Students have been asking me for weeks... 

'When is the moth pod competition starting?' 

And it's back! Our 6th year in a row entering it! 

We have already made a fantastic start collecting over 1000 pods so far with over 30 students helping by bringing pods in or being part of our fantastic 'podding team' that has been out removing pods after school and at weekends!  

These invasive weeds are a real PEST! 

Their vine wraps around trees strangling and smothering the tree so it dies!

 The sap is an irritant and stains clothes so we have to be careful when removing the pods; gloves, glasses and old clothes on! 

Before...

After! Now we can see the actual plant!

Celebrating Chinese New Year AND reducing our carbon footprint!

     At Garden to Table recently we celebrated Chinese New Year by making dumplings and chocolate sesame seed biscuits. 

They were delicious! We even made enough to offer some round at the enviro cluster meeting which was the same day after school. 

We are always looking at ways to be more sustainable, and Nigel, from Pest Free Howick set up a clever calculator that could work out how we can reduce our school carbon footprint by growing our own food to eat. 

In our dumplings we grew and used: 

- spring onions

- carrots

- cabbage

- garlic

- garlic chives and regular chives. 

- ginger (shop bought)

Some of these items were harvested in the school holidays and frozen. 

We did buy the dumpling wrappers and soy sauce.  We made about 160 dumplings. 

By using lots of food we had grown ourselves rather than buying it we reducing the carbon that would've been involving in growing, storing and transporting it to us. 

Our carbon saving was the same as: 

- 20 mature trees absorbing CO2 for a whole year

- Driving a petrol car for 100km in New Zealand

Leading the Way: Our Enviro Cluster Meeting 2026

 

What an inspiring afternoon of connection and "green" thinking!

Yesterday we hosted the Enviro Cluster Meeting, bringing together students, teachers, and community members to share our progress and vision for a more sustainable future.

Our enviro vision

Our fantastic student presenters

The energy in the room was electric (and sustainably sourced, of course!). Our student leaders took centre stage, sporting their green bows and hats, to present the incredible strides we’ve made in our environmental initiatives; waste minimisation, our Garden to Table programme and our native tree areas. 

In addition, we had fantastic support from David, one of our Garden to Table leaders, who showcased our veggie garden. We also had some extra snacks (linked to Chinese language week) provided by Victoria and the Garden to Table kitchen crew! 

Garden to Table 2026

Last week we kicked off our Garden to Table programme with Room 1 and Room 4. 

This is the first time the year four students have regular sessions so there was much excitement! 

Prior to the sessions, all students had to pass their knife safety test. This was a great opportunity to put these knife skills into action! 

As a change this week, the table decorations were the giant pumpkins and gourds instead of the posie flowers - a great discussion point! 

On the menu was:

* Herby breadsticks - see recipe HERE

* Veggie pasta in sauce - see recipe HERE

* Zucchini cheddar scones - please ask for the recipe if you would like it

* Choc bliss balls (with the addition of 1/2 cup of grated beetroot & coconut to roll the balls in) 

 - see recipe HERE

 

Year 6 Legacy Art : UPDATE

Last year we started an ENVIRO INITIATIVE whereby the year 6 leavers create some artwork to be displayed at school as a special memory of their time at Howick Primary School. 

In 2024 the year 6 students decorated our water tank - turning it into a giant 'fish tank'! 

This year the students decorated part of the play area - the 'stumps'. 

The students were asked for their ideas how we could decorate them and they voted... 

                                         COUNTRIES & CULTURES was the winner! 

This fits perfectly with the enviroschools guiding principle  'RESPECT FOR DIVERSITY'.

Students researched and sketched up designs of things that were special to them as part of their culture. 

They then outlined and finally painted these onto the stumps. 

Before shot... (after we had sanded them down) 

The AFTER shot! Many, many hours of sanding, priming, designing & painting!

A huge THANK YOU to Zeena that supported the students with their designs and all of the painting for this project.