“We were unable to start our kit but I like the thought of the children coming back and appreciating their place in the world. I can see the cross curricular links of technology, science, writing, and a Maori world view. I can see this kit helping us see our unique place in the world and how we are all connected - people, nature, earth, insects - all connected together. Can't wait to see how this plays out in the classroom.”
“We received the kit just prior to lockdown but cannot wait to have our children back to start investigating and learning together with this resource. Our concept for the year is Kaitiakitanga - Guardianship, and this will help deepen our understanding of this.”
“Our class was very excited to receive that Nature Space kit last term. We had just been on school camp and had spent a lot of time outdoors and were looking forward to looking closely at our school's outdoor spaces. Even by just taking the photo of our space and observing it closely, I think changed the perspective some students had of what might have just been 'another garden' at school.
We haven't used the kit during our online learning, but we will get back into once the class is back at school. We were all very excited to explore all of the different elements! I love the holistic approach this kit has, and all the different avenues there are to explore about one space.
There are so many benefits to using nature as a context. All students are surrounded by nature everyday, and enabling them to see that nature can be any size, area etc, I think gives students a sense of belonging and appreciation to the nature spaces that they are part of everyday.
I look forward to embedding this learning across different areas of the curriculum when our class is back together :)”
“Hi, as I only received the kit on Friday 20 March (it had been given to the principal and not me) and we went into lockdown at the end of Monday 23 March, I have not had a chance to even look at the kit. I am presently teaching online, as my husband is high risk and I have not been able to go back to school and examine the kit. I shall do my best to do so when I return to school.”
“We didn't get a chance to start this kit but we are looking forward to working on it. It links well with our school goal to work on improving our local environments. We participated in EMR and the rest of the school participated in Whitebait Connection last term so we were looking for ways to improve our natural spaces and this kit was going to provide us with an opportunity to move onto improving local land areas as the next space.”
“Although we haven't been able to start this yet due to lockdown, this kit looks like a great learning opportunity. Our focus this term is environmental challenges, so this fits in so well, and I can't wait to get stuck into it once I'm back at school with my class!”
“Thank you for this wonderful kit. I am excited to encourage a love and appreciation of nature in my learners. At this time of uncertainty in their lives, being able to stop, live in the moment and appreciate the beauty of the nature around them is so important. These engaging resources and activities will be much appreciated.”
