Limehills School – 11 November 2015
Twenty-seven children and parent helpers accompanied teacher Stacey Anderson to the Education Centre. They were very specific in their requirements – learning all they could about the native kowhai. Limehills School have a special relationship with a QEII Covenant “Kowhai Reach” at Kuana near their school. The covenant, one of the first in Southland, was initiated by a group of farmers wanting to protect in perpetuity, a meandering section of the Winton Stream containing many mature kowhai trees. The children had brought along kowhai seeds collected from that site and Chris explained, and then demonstrated how to clean, prepare and sow the seeds. Before that the children showed their knowledge about the kowhai tree – how many species of kowhai are there in New Zealand? How many species live naturally in Southland? Where do kowhai like to live? What does the kowhai tree look like (flowers, leaves, bark)? What birds like kowhai and why? Why might kereru like eating the leaves? What did Maori people use the kowhai for? The students showed an excellent knowledge of kowhai trees by answering many of these questions. Then the group was split into two with Chris leading a plant trip around the ponds while Bronwyn lead a kowhai potting up session. Other activities included measuring kowhai leaves from Sophora microphylla (small leaved), the only kowhai species naturally found in Southland and the day ended with lunch in the education centre followed by a race around the koru maze in the paddock. It was a very busy and successful visit.
Posted: 16 November 2015