West Eyreton students plant 250 seedlings at Bennetts Stream
A group of 20 year 3 and year 4 students from West Eyreton School planted 250 seedlings grown at their school at Bennetts Stream near Oxford.
Last month, a group of 20 year 3 and year 4 students from West Eyreton School planted 250 native seedlings which they had grown in their school greenhouse at Bennetts Stream near Oxford in North Canterbury.
Irrigation cooperative Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL) is supporting the school through its seedlings in schools programme. The programme provides a greenhouse, seedlings and a biodiversity project team member who works closely with the school to provide practical environmental education that is helping the students to take action to improve the environment in their local area.
West Eyreton teacher Michelle Orr says the school has been working with WIL’s biodiversity project lead Dan Cameron over the last six years and his bi-monthly school visits have had a positive impact on the students.
“It was great for the students to come back to the Bennetts Stream site a year later to see how their original plants are growing and to plant more seedlings from our greenhouse.
“The students’ faces light up when Dan arrives for one of his sessions and being outside doing something positive for the environment is a way that we can leave the land better than when we found it.”
Michelle says the seedlings in schools project fits in well with the school’s science curriculum and offers a practical way for students to learn about the environment around them.
WIL’s biodiversity project lead Dan Cameron says the students are really engaging in the planting days because they have cared for and raised the seedlings themselves and play a key role in the growing process.
“Being involved in the entire lifecycle of the plants is key and from here we will go back and plant the next lot of seeds in the greenhouse at the school ready to begin the cycle again.”
Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL) biodiversity project lead Dan Cameron helps West Eyreton school students Liam O’Malley (9) and Keira Mather (8) plant a native seedling at Bennetts Stream near Oxford.
Year 4 student Liam O’Malley says he is motivated to improve the stream due to the discovery last year of Canterbury Mudfish at Bennetts Stream.
“We were here a year ago when the mudfish were found. They are really endangered so we want to do our best to make this stream a good place for them to live.
“I have been part of the school’s gardening group for two years. We go to check on the greenhouse once a week to see how the plants are going. We check the soil temperature and the moisture levels.
“I really enjoy the teamwork and planting the plants here today has been a lot of fun.”
Year 3 student Keira Mather planted around 30 native seedlings with her two friends during the planting day. She says learning to put together the plant guards was the trickiest part of the day.
“The plant guards were a bit hard to put together but we worked on it in our groups. I want to come back here in the future and see the mudfish doing well.”
Dan says the long -term goal for the site is to enable greater public access for recreational use.
“It’s a work in progress as we need to take care to enrich the riparian margin while also learning more about the diverse species such as Canterbury Mudfish and tadpole shrimp that inhabit the stream, so we protect their habitat.”
