As part of our learning about Whanaungatanga and diversity have embarked on a learning journey with the Mountains to Sea Programme.

This programme builds on the learning these students had in Year 1 when they visited the local stream and we are extending them further.  The Mountains to Sea Programme is about Empowering schools and communities by providing hands-on experiences in marine and freshwater environments. It involves investigating marine/freshwater biodiversity and local marine/freshwater environments before venturing to a fully protected marine reserve and pristine waterway. After this students are able to compare unprotected and protected areas and are supported to put their knowledge into action within the community. 

So far we have had a visit to our classroom and visited the Hibernia Stream in the Kawaka Reserve.  This stream connects to the stream at the back of our school and contributes to the stream in our school pepeha - the Waikumete awa.  We saw how much the stream had improved and saw many more creatures than before including a fresh water koura!  We are excited to compare this stream with Paturoa stream down at Titirangi beach before embarking on the marine reserve at Goat Island.

This programme is sponsored so if you felt this was an important kaupapa and would like to feed it forward to another group that is less fortunate than us, please donate on the website.

mountainstosea.org.nz