Kaitiaki o te taiao
Protecting our planet for future generations starts with the current generation. We encourage and teach our tamariki to be kaitiaki o te taiao (guardians of our natural environment), giving them a sense of ownership and investment in the wellbeing of our environment.
Ngahere and māra kai
Some of our kindergartens run ngahere (busy kindy) programmes, which see small groups of older tamariki make regular trips to the ngahere. This is an amazing opportunity for ngā tamariki to learn about plants, insects and animals, as well as a chance to simply enjoy being in nature.
As well as exploring the natural world through our ngahere programmes, most of our kindergartens have māra kai (food gardens) that tamariki help care for.
Nurturing our māra is the perfect opportunity to learn about how things grow, the care they need to grow well, and the kai we can produce and enjoy as a reward for our efforts.
Waste minimisation
We work to minimise waste where we can and have recycling programmes in place.
Tamariki are actively engaged in the Paper 4 Trees programme, which rewards kindergartens for their paper recycling efforts by providing sapling trees for us to plant and care for.
Enviroschools
Many of our kindergartens and centres are involved in the Enviroschools programme. The Enviroschools kaupapa is about creating a healthy, peaceful, sustainable world through learning and taking action together.
Our communities all have different opportunities for connection with nature, and we make every effort to participate in community events and learn about the world around us.
