Year 3 - Seagulls Are Special Too

Today Year 3 learnt about seagulls in New Zealand.  They aren't often appreciated as they're a familiar scavenger at the beach, but did you know the red billed and black billed gulls are in decline? You can listen to this to find out more Concerning Decline a RNZ interview We found out lack of food, litter, loss of habitats and pest predators are a problem.

We researched the three types of gulls found in New Zealand and sketched them.

Then we read Celia Seagull and the Plastic Sea 

We discovered plastic litter threatens our sea birds, so we went on a litter hunt.  Sadly most of the litter was plastic wrappers from lunchboxes. We can help by packing a litter free lunch.  How many litterfree lunches did Year 3 have?

Room 7 had 9 litterferee lunches

Room 8 had ELEVEN litterfree lunches YAY

Room 18 had 6

To reward the extra effort of packing a litterfree lunch we had a prize draw for each class. Congratulations to Matty, Luka & Chase. 

Our Annual Garden Bird Survey 2024

 Today Year Four conducted our annual garden bird survey.  We'll share the results with Landcare as part of their citiizen science project.  Did you know bird numbers are an indicator of the health of our environment?  Check out our comparitive results here

You can take part at home too:

The survey introduces the concept and practice of carrying out simple surveys, which are important for scientific inquiry and a basic tool of conservation (you can’t look after wildlife properly unless you know what’s there and how much of it there is)

We observed 15 different species of bird at Sunnyhills today and the numbers were steady compared to last year, which is great news. Our planting and pest trapping may be having a positive effect.

Our Year Three's are starting an inqiry into our native birds next term. We can use this data to help come up with some actions to encourage more manu at our kura.

Native Tree Planting Update

 The native trees that were planted on the Western Boundary in 2022 are becoming well established.  The children were surprised to see that many of the trees were taller than Mrs Daniel.  Unfortunately the war with the kikuyu grass continues.  This job is always on the 'to do' list!

Pestfree Cadetship Session 2

Today we learnt about the pests that threaten our native tree planting. We were lucky to see stuffed versions of the pests, their paw prints and even their poos (plastic of course)! Next session we'll learn about the action we can take to protect our trees and native birds.

🐦Landcare Bird Survey - Assessing our progress

 Every year Sunnyhills tamariki take part in the Garden Bird Survey 🐦 to assess the health of our environment and the success of our actions. Rooms 1, 2 & 7 took part this year.

We're hoping that planting 700 natives on site will have had a positive effect.

Check out our results:

Bird Survey 2022/2023 Comparison

You can take part at home too! Visit Garden bird survey

Afterwards we researched Auckland garden birds to see which actions we can take to support our local bird populations. Check out our mahi here: Garden Birds & Creating a Bird Friendly Garden

Sadly despite planting 700 native trees and trapping pests on site our bird numbers over all are continuing to decline. We are wondering how we can reverse this trend. Two ideas would be a bird bath and bird feeders. We were excited to spot a grey warbler for the first time.

Kauri Hub Shining GreenGold

 It's been a long wait, but finally this week, Year Ono launched their Sustainability learning journey with Mrs Daniel.

Firstly, we reminded ourselves of the everyday choices we can make to be more sustainable:

- pack a litterfree lunch

- use the community composters

- walk or bike to school

- put food scraps in the compost buckets

Next we took action;  last year SHS planted 700 trees. We set about rescuing them from under an avalanche of kikuyu grass.

Over the wet summer, some of the trees have quadrupled in height.  We can't wait to see how tall they'll grow this year.

Lastly we did a mapping and scavenger hunt activity to remind ourselves of all the special places around Sunnyhills that make us shine GreenGold. 

Next time we're beginning to learn more about Climate Change. 

Bird Corridor Rescue

 This week Year Rima have been rescuing our bird corridor trees from under an avalanche of kikuyu grass. Some of the trees have quadrupled in height over the wet summer. We can't wait to see hiw tall they'll grow this year.

We also reminded ourselves of all the places that make us a GreenGold Enviroschool with a mapping activity and scavenger hunt.

Remember we're all responsible for making everyday decisions that help us be more sustainable. Here's some actions you can take:

- pack a litterfree lunch 

- walk or bike to school

- use the community compost

Next time we go to Green Room we'll begin to look at sustainable energy.

Progress Report on Our Native Trees

 This week Year Five spent time trampling the kikuyu grass around the native trees we planted.  Some have already doubled in size! We hope the spring sun and rain bring on another growth spurt before summer.

🌱🌏 700 natives planted in our Bird Corridor!!!

What a wonderful legacy our Year 6's have left for the local environment today; 650 native trees planted on our western boundary thanks to Trees For Survival and Pest Free Howick Ward

Thank you so much to all the parent volunteers,  Mrs Driver, Mrs Venville, Mr Lesley, Mr Smith, Cate, Lynda, Frazer, the Y6 teachers and all the tamariki for their hard mahi.