First vegetable harvest

Ripe cauliflower - a thing of beauty. And delicious, too!

Carrots - ready soon.

Three bags of goodness - broccoli, spring onion, celery and silverbeet.

This first harvest is going to help a local family.
The next harvest...we will eat!

Vegetable signwriters in action

The Green Team has worked with Mrs Barker at creating a list of the benefits of our school vegetable garden. 

This list is a little different - it will be displayed in the garden, and is designed in  'vege-market style'.

Here are Room 12 students Montana, Katana and Ella at our first lettering session:

Tanya Playfair's mural team has created two beautiful works of art.

Article by Tanya Playfair:

Have you noticed the new murals 

overlooking the Year 2 playground?

These were developed by the Senior Art group during our targeted learning in term 1. The children began by looking at what Greenhithe means to them. They came up with ideas around the native bush; pohutukawa, kowhai, tui, ferns and flax. 

The students then merged their ideas to form the background and foreground pieces. In groups, they then layered on paint, using a range of processes and techniques. We think the overall look is fantastic and we are very proud.

Many thanks to Barry for materials and setting the murals in place, to Marsha Smith for her expertise and guidance and to all the families that provided paint.

Thank you also to those who helped to complete the murals during the holidays, the Smith family, the Leong family, Sylvia Leadley and my boys.

Tanya Playfair

What IS an Enviroschool, anyway?

Greenhithe School is an Enviroschool.

What exactly does that mean? 

Enviroschools aim to function in a sustainable manner according to guiding principles provided by our local councils(see below).

Schools can focus on reaching one of these four award stages:

• Bronze
• Silver
• Green Gold and
• Beyond Green Gold

Greenhithe School has achieved the Silver award in recent years, and we are currently working at keeping our great reputation! There are many activities and features in our school which come under the Enviroschools 'way of living':

Travelwise
Solar power from our library  roof panels
Paper recycling
Fruit scraps from the Year 3s to our worm farm
Vegetable gardens
Nature garden and trail
Butterfly garden
Murals depicting local wildlife
World Vision support (as part of the 'global village')
Bird-friendly plantings in the new Year 2 area.
A Unit on 'Guardians of the Earth' looking at conservation of sea creatures and ecosystems
A Unit on Maori culture and language
A Unit on 'Wearable Art' focusing on the culture and characteristics of a different nation by each class.

Parents and students fill our new vegetable garden surrounds - made by Barrie.

For more information on the Enviroschools award system, see the excellent summary provided by Northland Council: 
http://www.nrc.govt.nz/For-Schools/Enviroschools/Enviroschools-awards/#info

Some excerpts are below:

The Enviroschools Guiding Principles are:

• Sustainable Communities
• Empowered Students
• Maori Perspectives
• Learning for Sustainability and
• Respect for Diversity of People and Cultures. 

The four key areas of school life that have an effect on sustainability and student learning are: 

• Place/Wahi (physical surroundings)
• Practices/Tikanga (operational practices)
• Programmes/Kaupapa Ako (living curriculum) and
• People and Participation/Tangata (organisational management).
• 
  

Silver Award - key words

Maintaining Extending Increasing range and depth of learning and action Developing connections and integration Projects and participants growing in number

Silver Award- Description

We have a clear, shared whole school vision and we are working together creatively to make it happen.  There are obvious signs of all the Guiding Principles in our school, across all the areas of school life.  We have a sense of inter-relatedness/whanaungatanga in terms of our school, our community and our environment.  Our sustainable practices are being kept up and are growing; we are branching into new aspects as well as going deeper with existing ones through student-led enquiry.  Students are fully involved in planning and making decisions about actions.  We are tracking our progress and can show that more change has happened.  Our work has involved lots of people in our school, as well as parents, whanau and other community members.

• 
  

Greenhithe School vegetable gardens - the first plants are in!

The first plants have been planted 

by Mrs Hodson's gardening group

 in our new raised gardens.

Now it's up to the Green Team to continue the work!

Here are some of the Green Team members 

with Mrs Barker. 

They are showing off their Enviroschools display in the staffroom foyer.

The Green Team in front of their 'What has been done so far?' display.

(Watch this display, there is more to come.) 

After posing for this photo, the Green Team planted carrot, nasturtium and radish seeds in the new raised beds, 

and watered them in.

      This is what the Green Team wants to help create:

This is our goal - a well-filled, productive edible garden.

Greenhithe School's new vegetable gardens are taking shape

Many thanks 

to all the students and parents 

who helped move 

four cubic metres of soil/compost mix

into the new raised gardens.

It was a LOT of soil to move!

Here are some photos of some of our 

parent helpers, the gardening group, and Room 12 children 

getting their hands dirty:

Introducing Term One's Green Team.

Term One's Green Team 

- a talented group!

The Green Team has recorded things that have changed over the years in Greenhithe School. 

Their ideas filled this large mural! 

Some excerpts are shown below, and there are more available to view on their 

new display

outside the staffroom.