Rhode Street School Embraces TREEmendous Environmental Education Initiatives

Hamilton’s Rhode Street School has embarked on a student led environmental project to create a medicinal Māori garden featuring a wide range of native plant species.

Known as rongoā, the medicinal garden is part of the school’s Ki te Rongo Mauri Ora Mara project which will help support student’s environmental education and provide health benefits for school whanau and the wider community.

Ruud “the Bugman” Kleinpaste and Shark Scientist, Dr Riley Elliott visited the school to talk to the students and teachers about the importance of sustainability and how to look after their new garden.

The visit was part of the 2022 TREEmendous Education Programme, an initiative from the Mazda Foundation. Rhode Street School is one of five winning schools from around the country to receive $1,000 towards an environmental project along with 200 native trees from Trees That Count for the school grounds.

Kleinpaste also spent a day at the school, working with teachers to show how they can embed environmental learning as part of the curriculum.

Rhode Street School Principal Shane Ngatāi says the recent visit from Kleinpaste and Dr Elliott inspired students and teachers alike to delve deeper into the living world and the impact of climate change on flora and fauna in Aotearoa.

“The generous donation of 200 native seedlings from the TREEmendous Education Programme has greatly accelerated our school-wide commitment to improving our teaching of ecological sustainability by incorporating mātauranga Māori kaupapa (traditional Māori knowledge) alongside the NZ Science Curriculum,” says Ngatāi.

“The seedlings we planted focus on the native species that support a rongoā (medicinal) Māori garden planted on our ecological island for future generations to use as their teaching medicinal library and resource centre.

“Normalising environmental education within Te Ao Māori (the Māori world view) through our localised curriculum, we strongly believe in connecting our ākonga (students), kaiako (teachers) and whānau (families) as navigators and kaitiaki (guardians) of the sea, land and sky,” he says.

“These connections help to ensure the biodiversity learnings are sustained and succession is built-in to continue our responsibilities to care for and nurture our taiao (natural environment).”

Kleinpaste says Rhode Street School is an incredibly unique place for learning, with students from diverse backgrounds inspired by a team of educators who inject the importance of whakapapa (genealogy) in everything they do.

“For this reason alone, it comes as no surprise that environmental education (outside!) is firmly embedded in the day-to-day activities of the curriculum. What does come as a surprise, however, is the fact that this school has a complete predator-proof fence in the middle of its school grounds giving them an ecological island,” he says.

“Predator Free 2050 lives and breathes at Rhode Street School. I have never seen a school like it and it certainly makes TREEmendous teaching a breeze!”