Experimenting to see how Kauri Dieback kills

Today we ran trials with holey straws to explore how Kauri Dieback effects the root system of our precious native tree.

Find out more by watching this video and remember to always SCRUB, SPRAY & STAY ON THE TRACK

Our Pest Trapping Tally

Our Squawk Squad traps, that children fundraised for, have caught 56 pests in The Thames Coast Kiwi Sanctuary. Yippee!

You too can sponsor the Squawk Squad's trapping efforts https://squawksquad.co.nz/

Cooking, kauri colouring & seed collection

Today the eco leaders were multi tasking! We managed to harvest  a giant zucchini, collect the seeds, cook it AND complete a kauti die back colour in while we waited for our delicious afternoon tea. Yum & fun!

Remember to always SCRUB, SPRAY & STAY ON THE TRACK when visiting kauri forests.

Our Kauri Mural

Our Kauri Dieback Unit continues - today Room 17 & 18 looked at all the endemic animals that rely on the kauri. We drew them to add to our kauri mural in The Green Room. Next we'll investigate how Kauri Dieback attacks the kauri roots. I wonder if we could grow our own kauri trees?

Cameron & Christian - Kaitiaki

This week we acknowledged two boys who've gone above and beyond to help their local environment:

Cameron has been bringing his kitchen scraps from home, for weeks, to feed the school compost.

Christian represented Sunnyhills School at the Maclean's College Beach Clean Up in the weekend.

Tino pai rawa tamariki!!

Cameron is an awesome home gardener too. Check the size of that broccoli!

Vector Sustainable Energy Visit

Today Esther from Vector came to tell Team 5 & 6 about Sustainable Energy. It was an informative, fun & high energy presentation. A great way to start our Energy inquiry!

Wrapping up our term with roast veggies

Koru Whanau are wrapping up their term one enviro learning journey by harvesting, cooking and eating kamo kamo and zucchini from our edible garden.

Kamo kamo and zucchini are both delicious when sliced, roasted with salt and olive oil and served with grated cheese. They're super easy to grow too.

What's your favourite roast vege?

Bill Ballintine Memorial Lecture - Changing Ecology in a Changing Ocean

Mrs Daniel attended the Bill Ballantine Memorial Lecture and Sea Champions Awards as part of Seaweek last week.

Our 2018 Going Gold Enviro Team were nominated for their Marine Metre Square work, but weren't lucky on the night.

The three guest lecturers had interesting points to make about how important citizen science data collection like our MM2 work is to tracking how climate change is effecting our ocean ecologies.

Bring Nude Food Dude!

At Sunnyhills we're learning to be waste wise. One way we can do this is by bringing a naked lunch. Check out these awesome Year One's with their nude food:

Te Amohaere Teaches Us About Kauri Dieback

Our Year 3's and 4's our learning about kauri and kauri die back disease.

In Term 4 we were lucky enough to be visited by a new young kauri dieback expert, Te Amohaere. She taught us about this disease that threatens our national tree & what we can do to stop its spead: SCRUB, SPRAY & STAY ON THE TRACK

We hope her beautiful waiata to spread the word will be released more widely soon.

We're looking at ways to spread the word too. Comment below with ideas for telling people about kauri dieback: