Being a part of the Health and Physical Education (HPE) Curriculum days run by Sport Southland at the ILT stadium gave us the opportunity to promote activity in nature for both our physical and mental well being. While we couldn’t take the forest to the stadium we had NZ native bird footage playing on the tv and tree leaves to match up and identify. We also got the students to grow a tree, writing on a leaf something they love to do in nature, or how nature makes them feel. About 270 leaves were added to our tree!!! Things the tamariki like to do out in nature included exploring the bush, walking, relaxing in the sun, watching and listening to birds, climbing trees, looking at and smelling flowers, spending family time, orienteering, running, biking, looking for odd shaped clouds, breathing, playing in the wild and bug hunting. How nature makes them feel included happy, calm, special, free, amazing, peaceful, energetic, feeling alive and refreshed. One leaf read “nature is freedom…an escape from the hustle of life”. Naure certainly is good for our physical and mental well being. It was great to make connections with some of the 1200 students and teachers from about 30 Southland schools.
Bronwyn
Posted: 4 March 2021
Seed Collecting, Navigation and Pest Trapping were the three most recent workshops held in the Education Centre in February 2021.
On 3 February Chris ran a seed collecting wananga for Hokonui Runanga. February is at the start of the seed collecting season and the group learned about plant identification, right plants for the right place and then had time in the field identifying different plants and collecting seeds that were ready. These field skills are essential when going out into nature to collect and start the process of growing local plants appropriate for the Hokonui area.
On Saturday 20 February - A report from participant Judy - Twenty tramper’s from the Southland, Wakatipu, Hokonui and Fiordland clubs came together for a Navigation Course held at the Southland Community Nursery, run by Barry Smith on behalf of Federated Mountain Clubs. We used the Education Centre in the morning for lessons on GPS, map reading and different navigational devices around the world. The Education Centre was well set up for us to have seating and tables, electricity for power point, refreshments and toilet. In the afternoon we were outside using our new found skills walking along pest line tracks and the adjacent Bushy Point. This was an ideal area with a mixture of bush and clear ground for testing direction and distance measuring between pre determined points.
On Wednesday/Thursday 24-25 February 2021 a two day pest trapping workshop was held with tutors Steve Price from NMIT and Lisa Thurlow, Senior Ranger Biodiversity from DOC.
Lisa said “The workshop will be a valuable tool for people who’d like to become more active in predator pest control and it will provide an overview of New Zealand pest predators focusing on rats, stoats and possums. The course looks at defining why these predators are pests, their impacts, and the control methods to use.
The main focus will be on developing an effective predator control plan for participant’s local areas and the importance of monitoring, allowing new trappers to work out the right methods to match the outcomes they are looking to achieve. Participants will also gain the practical experience needed to be able to trap successfully”
The weather was perfect – rain all day Wednesday for the indoor stuff and fine for the setting out of traplines and the field component on Thursday and the sixteen participants all gained some important knowledge to help their pest control projects succeed.
Find out more about training courses at https://www.doc.govt.nz/get-involved/training/
Posted: 1 March 2021
A sunny day was enjoyed by all as the Kahui Manu Homeschool group discovered, explored and inquired. Tasting the edible fruits, herbs and other plants saw the tamariki use and extend their knowledge of the outdoor world to the Southland Community Nursery environment. The education centre was the cool place to seek shade from the sun with the giant floor puzzles generating lots of knowledge of insects and spiders, their body parts and habitats. The pond and bush tracks were taken, collecting mingimingi seed, noticing the habitats and insects, and even seeing a possum trapped sparking talk about pests in our NZ forests and other ecosystems. Looking around the nursery at the seedlings and plants growing and potting up some kōwhai seedlings inspired learning around how plants grow, the parts of plants, and what plants do for us and other living things. A great day with a great group of people.
Bronwyn
Posted: 19 February 2021
Hear our Community Nursery Patron Ruud Kleinpaste talking about a new project he is involved in at Burnside, Christchurch.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018783155/the-burnside-boulder-butterfly-project
Its a great interview and project - maybe we can bring Ruud down to do something similar in Southland? His visits here are always so inspiring both for children and teachers
See you soon Ruud!
Chris
Posted: 16 February 2021
Moving alert levels… so just a reminder of how we operate at the Southland Community Nursery during this time. Stay safe everyone. Thanks
Please note: Covid level activity at the Southland Community Nursery: Alert Level 1 - open to all visits. Alert Level 2 - Open for visitors up to 10 people at any one time - all visitors by prior arrangement only please. Closed to all visits of groups greater than 10 people. Alert Level 3 & 4 - Closed to all visitors.
Posted: 16 February 2021
