We no longer put workshop notes onto this blog but here are some of the first notes for your interest:
Notes from cluster workshop @ Newcastle kindergarten 11 October 2011
Your brainstorm notes from activities:
Notes from cluster workshop @ Newcastle kindergarten 11 October 2011
Your brainstorm notes from activities:
Exploring the guiding principles:
Empowered Students
What is the purpose of this guiding principle?
- So that they teach others
- Empowering
- Gives them knowledge, ownership
- Creates interest
- Gives meaning
- Fits in with Te Whariki – active learning, constructing knowledge, exploration, communication
- Creativity – to think outside the square
- Exciting outcomes – not what teachers envisaged
- Life-long experience
- Links with the wider community/home life
How could it influence your kindergarten’s journey?
- New children could bring fresh ideas
- Involving the community
- Strategic plan/budget – meeting children’s needs and ideas
- Families
- Peers passing on to each other
- Empowering students to have a great influence on the community
- Empowerment means what children say is important, that they take ownership and it will encourage their complex thinking
How will this help you to incorporate a place that nurtures people and nature?
- It will feed over to families
- The children will own the learning and respond to natures/creatures/people appropriately (e.g. Animal care, life cycle learning, choices of what to grow…)
- Children will make their own responsible choices
What changes might be needed to people’s practice?
- Discussions – what do children already know? Use their own words and then ours to explain – using concepts such as ‘reuse reduce and recycle’ etc – use and say – so children know what words mean.
Learning for sustainability
What is the purpose of this guiding principle?
- Celebrating/enjoying the environment and natural resources
- Involvement in local/current issues e.g. Rena oil spill at Mt Maunganui
- Giving our children ownership – allowing them to be involved in decision making
- Simple can have the biggest impact – small steps are important
How could it influence your kindergarten’s journey?
- Reminding us that we are to do
- To make it an ongoing sustainable culture
- Holistic big picture
- Whole being – just what we do
How will this help you to incorporate a place that nurtures people and nature?
- Reminder that ‘political’ means rights, responsibilities, democratic decision making
- About, In, For
- Not to be a ‘throw away’ materialistic culture. Leave the planet in a healthier state than when we arrived
- Saving of the planet for the benefit of future generations
- We need to develop the right first instincts for sustainability with our children – care, respect, nurture, protect
What changes might be needed to people’s practice?
- Woven into everything we do – lives, kindergarten community
- Children active participants within the kindy then become leaders in community
Sustainable Communities
What is the purpose of this guiding principle?
- Ensuring long term change – for generations to come, to keep our Earth alive, to protect natives/species
- Have a ripple effect
- Holistic sense of not just the here and now
- Like a kauri seed
- Record/celebration in portfolios of learning
- Instilling responsible attitudes
- Making good choices – e.g. sustainable resources
- Going ‘back to basics’ – unpacking simple ideas
- Collaborative effort
- Let the children dream ‘what if…?’
How could it influence your kindergarten’s journey?
- Sharing the knowledge within kindergarten community
- Sharing responsibility and decision-making
- Role-model caring for and nurturing people and Papatuanuku with tamariki and whanau
- Strategic plan
- Sustainable communities need to be fun – not condescending, preaching but supportive
- We want to have everyone equally on board e.g. not just one leader – shared responsibility
Maori Perspectives
What is the purpose of this guiding principle?
- Points to our responsibilities in a bi-cultural society
- Draw on local uniqueness
- Sharing of knowledge
- Involving whanau and wider community – local kaumatua and iwi in what we do
How could it influence your kindergarten’s journey?
- Having connection with local marae
- Resources reflect Mauri resources – myths, legends, books, flax, natural environments
- Celebrations e.g. Matariki, gathering of whanau
- Practicing and respecting Tikanga Maori
- Approaching things holistically
- Making our place part of the community so that they come back
How will this help you to incorporate a place that nurtures people and nature?
- Looking after – taking, sharing, giving back (sea food – flax)
- Traditions – honour Maori ways of doing things
What changes might be needed to people’s practice?
- Papatuanuku
- Taonga – it won’t be lost
- Enrich our programme
- Ongoing learning for teachers
- Respect
- Maori planting calendar
- Reo
Respect for the diversity of people and cultures
What is the purpose of this guiding principle?
- Inclusion – everyone on the journey are at different stages – open and flexible
- Accepting everyone – town/rural, differing abilities, ages, ethnicities
- Opening whanau/families’ eyes
- Inspiring, modeling ideas for life e.g. vege gardens
- Drawn in to contribute – building a sense of belonging
How could it influence your kindergarten’s journey?
- Leaning from a wealth of knowledge
- Using local expertise, council projects – gathering knowledge from many places
- Calm, gentle approach – take time
- The act of bringing/relationships
How will this help you to incorporate a place that nurtures people and nature?
- Supporting and overcoming language barriers
- Open door policy
- Community contributors
What changes might be needed to people’s practice?
§ Look at barriers – wheelchair access etc.
§ What does our community look like?
§ Philosophy
§ Environment – peaceful areas, not overwhelming/over stimulating
§ Respect religious/cultural differences
§ Communication with whanau
§ Building relationships with all whanau –e.g. inviting different cultures in to cook
Brainstorm for ways to document Enviroschools –
- Learning stories and photos
- Pin boards, murals
- Newsletters
- Take down and put into an Enviroschools folder
- Scrapbook
- Records from staff meetings
- Twice a term separate meeting for enviro schools
- Evaluations
- Curriculum review – (for a whole year – helped team know what to do and where to start
- Planning – reflect regularly on e.schools – what we haven’t done, what we need to do
- E.school grouptime – group learning stories
- Dream board – recording all possibilities – revisit – move on from the dream
- Ask why are you doing it? Is it useful? Don’t do it just for the sake of doing it – is it to show the community, ERO, the children?
Exploring the Action Learning Cycle:
Raglan:
Identify the current situation:
Caring for Papatuanuku -
- Children interested in watering the garden
- we could learn about when to water and why
- Karakia for gardening processes; see Enviroschools folder for new ones.
- Children do it on their own
- just use hoses
- focused mat times
- Get KP in to discuss plants etc
- look at parts of plants
- grow more seed (in cotton wool)
- Document plant growth, photos, watering chart
- Enviroschools newsletter to parents/whanau
- Gardening group - fruit tree plan (ask tamariki which fruit trees to plant)
St Andrews:
Identify the current situation:
The children are no longer aware of the basic enviroschools principles for St Andrews
Explore Alternatives:
- Trip to Hukanui school
- Care code - what does it mean to care for the environment?
- Look up ELP kindness blog
- Establishing a pool of knowledge
- Record children's understanding at the present time.
- Group time brainstorm - do weekly to refocus as Enviroschool kindergarten
- Alert them to things that are happening and why we do things
- Revisit Enviroschools philosophy as a team
- Worm farm - why do we have one?
- Rubbish - what do we do with it? What happens if we don't?
- Why do we limit water?
- Why do we look after the earth?
- Why do we look after the bush?
- Who relies on us looking after the bush/land
Identify the current situation:
Children are not showing much understanding about water conservation and we have a river stone water feature planned.
- If we use too much water we run out
- Lots of free play with water
- Everybody needs water
- Watering plants, sensory play
- Trip to Rainbow Springs - the big splash
- Put in newsletter and let whanau know
- Team planning meeting - brainstorming
- Water equipment for measuring
- Collect water from the carpentry shed roof
- Kawhia te moana, Te Ika o Maui
- Water cycle
- science experiments
- Enviroschools DVD
- Waiata - Waikato te Awa
- Water wall using recycled materials
Explore Alternatives:
- Look at other kindergartens and schools who have built water features/walls
- Use contacts from council and enviroschools
- Contact Fonterra - water container
Take Action:
- Look at different designs and costs
- Get quotes and apply for grants
- Brainstorm with children/parents
- Ask our whanau for recycled resources for water wall
Miropiko:
Identify the current situation:
Developing a butterfly garden
- Focus on Life Cycle of Monarch butterflies
- Brainstorm in small groups
- Art, music, dance, dramatic play, clay, wire
- Sensory - move the caterpillars and the swanplants
- Games
- Learning log, scrapbook
- Observe - holistic ownership, consequences - caring and well being of the caterpillars
- Cultural - significance for other cultures? Maori waiata. Migration of butterflies?
- Measure - brainstorm at end to see the interest and the movement in knowledge
Explore Alternatives:
- How could it be? - self sown garden once it is establised
- Remove the gate for easy access
- Poisonous swan plants
- Reporter on the mat
- What have others done - check Hukanui school and other kindergartens for ideas, and check enviroschools books, skype/link preschools worldwide.
- Actions - child accessable, ask children how we can improve it
- Prompts and questions
Take Action:
- People to involve - Experts, children and adults, monarch trust, Youtube, Koro Bill, museum, moth/butterflies
- Who will do what when - enviroschools planning
- Design - books, wall, ongoing scrapbook, newsletter, attractive cover, child assessment their own words
Reflect on Change:
- How well did we use ICT to document this project?
- Are the swan plants in the right space?
- Documentation will be a measure
- Is the garden self perpetuating?
- Continue with looking at life cycles to see if we can get results to build a better affinity to nature eg. life cycle of the frog
Newcastle/Galbraith
Identify the current situation:
Unmeasured use of Water
- Hose running continually
- Audit
- Experiments
- Noting weather
- Teach to water
- Observe water wall
Explore Alternatives:
- What have others done? - Water tank with a gauge, rain gauges
- Purchase water tanks to harvest rainwater
- Try to get more tanks for different areas - wildflower/vege, orchard
- Data - how often does it rain?
- Look at how much water we can collect
- Measure water use
- Get a water gauge - water meter
- Visioning/Brainstorming what will happen if there was no water
- Priorities - learning value of water conservation
- "Filthy water can't be cleaned"
Take Action:
- Install
- Data collecting - how many days has it rained
- Get different tanks for other areas
- Grant applications
- Newsletter - discuss with whanau about what we are doing
- Child's voice to share with whanau
- Filter - how to keep water clean and safe
- Waikato river @ Museum
- Learn about where water comes from
Reflect on Change
- Celebrate - performance, bronze award, URL, display, Blog,
- Guidebook - technology
Notes from Cluster workshop @ Newcastle kindergarten
12th April 2012
12th April 2012
Getting Started:
Burning issues for the group:
- How do we know we have started?
- What resources are essential to get started and to keep it going?
- Where do we start?
- Does one member take a lead role?
- What parent involvement is welcome/ required?
- Is everyone new to enviroschools?
- Where/ who do we go to for support?
- What sort of documentation do you keep?
- What are other kindergartens doing?
- What are other kindergartens who are already on Enviroschools doing?
Enviroschools Kaupapa – how can Enviroschools be embedded in your kindergarten?
James Gray
People and Participation:
- Fundraising to resource natural features
- Have Envirocentre parent group who meet once a term
Practices:
- Litter-less lunchboxes/ nude food
- More natural resources
- Recycling / worms
- Maintain existing gardens and add to it so that in ten years time it is sustainable, aesthetically in keeping with our philosophy
- Replace all plastic containers fro play equipment and resources with natural containers and baskets
Place:
- Become an Enviroschools kindergarten
Programmes:
- Water conservation – children learn to turn off hoses – don’t waste water Hillcrest:People and Participation:
- Kitchen – involve parents in cooking
- Children will know about the environment
- Whanau ownership of garden development, feel welcome, taking ownership of vege gardens
Practices:
- Sustaining the time in the back garden – have a clean-up and eating place
- Diversity of plants supporting the ‘organic’ growth of New Zealand
Place:
- All year round produce
- Children play/ interact in ‘wild spaces’ – exploration
- Produce
- Worm juice
- Extending the use of the back garden
- Involving diverse cultures in garden – seeds from other cultures
- Paths from garden to garden which invites exploration
Programmes
- Using kitchen to utilize produce – health, baking
Hukanui:
People and Participation:
- Extended whanau, teachers, children – involving them through activities, their ideas
- Visual display about our journey and how they can participate
- Make links to Hukanui school – seek support and ideas
Practices:
- Respect for others/environment
- Strategic plan – long term sustainability
- Manu – caring for them
- Make this visual in children’s’ learning stories
Place:
- Recycled stuff/ things
- Natural resources/ furniture
- Visually appealing – entrance area, gardens
- Redevelop back area
Programmes:
- Recycling – worm farm, plastics, paper, zero waste, water in sandpit (utilize shed-barrel-sandpit)
- Gardening – kai/cooking, vege and other gardens, natural area, selling produce
Grandview:
People and Participation:
- Full roll and healthy waiting list
- Parent/whanau participation in programme and taking care of environment
- Peer teaching
- Community involvement
- Children taking responsibility for taking care of kindergarten environment
Practices:
- Grants
- Incorporating natural resources
- Happy feet programme
- Recycling
- Healthy kai
- Physical activity
- Natural cleaning materials
- Environmentally friendly
- Bicultural/multi cultural
- Sustainability
- Gardener
Place:
- Natural bush/ native plants
- Use of natural resources
- Productive organic fruit and vege garden
- Worm farm/ composting/ recycling centre
- Rainwater collection and recycling system
- Bird area/wildlife – butterfly garden, weta/insect houses
- Willow hut
- Smell - flowers, herbs, plants, cooking
- Taste – fruit, veges, herbs
- Feel – lots of different textures from plants and natural environment
- Laughter, birds, insects, water
- Whanau
- Quiet areas/ oioi area/ bush areas
- Sustainable environment
Programmes:
- Inquiry learning
- Peer teaching
- Whanau involvement/ contribution
- Growing and using organic produce
- Exploring the Guiding Principles:
Empowered students:1. Definition:
- For children to become lifelong learners in environmental sustainability
2. Key words:- Formalising
- Using language
- Parent/whanau involvement
- Bicultural/multicultural practices
- Children can influence what happens at home and at kindergarten
3. Examples: (from the Big Picture)- Children make their own decisions; have ideas about how/what they want to grow etc.
- The whole process – cyclic rotation from start to finish
- They build on their own knowledge or gain knowledge about sustainability
- Think about the future – what effects their habits may have on the future environment eg. littering
4. Potential/Opportunities:- Genuinely involved (actively)
- True degree of flexibility
- Learning alongside the children
- Important to have skilled teachers encouraging required learning
- Taking ownership
- Passing it on to their children for generations to come
- Peer-tutoring
- Creativity
- Self esteem
- Sense of achievement
- Reflective environment and programme of children’s involvement/ achievement
5. Steps for lead teachers:- Learning alongside
- Professional development
- Actively seeking knowledge- ideas, information
- Purposefully integrating – making it all part of the programme
- Sustainable Communities:1. Definition:
- Community involvement
- Educating them (awareness)
Role-modeling- Healthy food/habits
2. Key words:- Relationships and respect – looking after nature and each other
- Diversity – community involvement, cultural perspectives
- Supporting biodiversity of New Zealand – sharing knowledge and skills
3. Examples: (from the Big Picture)- Open spaces, recycling stations, dump closed
- Walking, few cars
- Community gardens
- Using animals – fishing
- Food from land
- Environment used for recreation
- Native planting
- Solar power, thermal power, wind power
- Integrated community
- Earth houses
- Interconnected, balance, a place of everybody
- Community interconnection
- Responsibility for community eg. Rivers, bush, mountains
- Guardianship, Kaitiaki
Learning for Sustainability:1. Definition:- Making the children aware of their environment, locally, community, wider world, globally
- How they are connected and responsible for the environment
2. Examples: (from the Big Picture)- Reducing landfill
3. Potential/Opportunities:- Flow on effect – kindergarten garden – gardens at home – save on budgets – natural food not processed
- Looking at endangered species NZ/ world wide
- Effects of pollution
- Looking at the effects of not being environmentally sustainable
- Approaching media/ politicians
4. Steps for lead teachers:- Take ownership – be an environmental citizen
Maori Perspectives:1. Definition:- Understanding Maori Tikanga
- Understanding Papatuanuku and the importance in Te Ao Maori
- Honouring the Treaty in our setting
- Acknowledge and respect for Maori in our area
2. Key words:3. Examples: (from the Big Picture)- Growing plants indigenous to area
- Develop concepts of sustainability to embrace our sense of place as New Zealanders
4. Potential/Opportunities:- Taking children to visit cultural centres
- Using natural resources e.g. harakeke for weaving,
- Cooking own food, using it for cooking
- Invite knowledgeable people into the programme e.g. weaving, poi making, gardening
- Incorporate Maori horticultural calendar/ practices e.g. Matariki
- Incorporating local legends/ all legends
- Learning about the atua/ Maori gods
- Music and arts – Waiata/ Karakia
- Invite kapa haka groups
- Using/ learning te reo – visual in practice
- Sense of belonging/ well being
- Wanting to engage – asking for help
5. Steps for lead teachers:- Role models
Respect for Diversity of People and Cultures:1. Definition:- Inclusive of all
- Discussions and involvement
- Recognising the importance of the celebrations
- Meanings behind cultural artwork, learning about legends
- Bring groups together and sharing their culture with centre community
2. Key words:- Help with sense of belonging
- Sharing knowledge and strengths
- Learning and teaching together
3. Examples: (from the Big Picture)- Role modeling
- Willingness to engage
- Revisit old habits
- Seeking out knowledge
- Cooperating – working together
- Sharing knowledge, respecting
4. Potential/Opportunities:- Social gatherings
- Creating sub-committees (spreading the word, newsletters, learning stories, the programme, notice boards, social gatherings etc.)
- Sharing other cultures food, seeds, their sustainable practices
- Different building ideas, construction materials
- Differences in what people wear due to culture/ environmental conditions
- Fairtrade e.g. coffee
- Musical instruments, resources from other countries that are handmade, but keep in mind recycling
5. Steps for lead teachers:- Working together, being open to other points of view, traditions
- Compromise, cooperation
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