WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO LATELY?

BEESWAX WRAPPERS! - ELLA, LUCI, MADDIE, JORJA-ROSE, RYDGE AND JAMES

On Wednesday, a group of Rakau

students, worked with Claire, Natalie  and Carole to make some beeswax wraps that we hope to sell soon as part of a fundraiser for the RAKAU camp next year.

We used small, medium and large templates to shape the fabric.  We used pinking shears, which are scissors that cut fabric in zigzag lines to stop it fraying, so the fabric does come off in bits
We put grated beeswax on one half of the fabric, then folded the other half on top.  Next we put some baking paper on top and used an iron to melt the beeswax into the cotton fabric.  Then wallah, we let it dry and we have a fantastic alternative to plastic for wrapping your sandwiches and snacks or even covering bowls with salad in!  We can’t wait till next week to make some more!

BUG HOTEL BY JAMES, RYDGE AND DEACON.

We have been working on a bug hotel for a couple of weeks now. A bug hotel is a place for bugs to make their homes in. We are hoping to learn some more about the what type of bugs live in our  school environment.

We have put in lots of different things that we think bugs might like to live in such as bricks, hay, pipes, sticks and bark.The bug hotel is behind the adventure playground if you wanted to see it.

CLEANING UP THE VEGE GARDEN IN PREPARATION FOR SPRING

As the weather begins to warm up we are getting busy in the garden ready for Spring plantings. 

We have begun digging int he mustard seed and also weeding and digging over the garden.  

We have also decided to fix up some of the scarecrows ready for their busy jobs in spring!  

  A big thank you to the Korimako Kids who came and joined    in with all  the action.  

FOREVERGREEN PRODUCTION

As an enviro school we are really keen to get everyone in our community thinking carefully about our environment, our impact on it and how we can all help protect it for the future so our whole school production carried this message.

Forevergreen was a production in which we took a step forward a 100 or so years to see what our schools and homes might look like in the future if we don't change what we are doing now. The children of the the future were completing a history project about biodiversity in the natural environment of Aotearoa, but they didn't know anything about nature or the natural environment as nothing had "grown' naturally on the planet for more than 100 years and everyone now lived in an airlocked world. Their grandparents helped them to understand how the world had gotten to this point and that it wasn't always this way- that once upon a time there were beautiful trees and creatures in nature.
This production made us really think about what we need to do now to ensure that the children in the future still have a natural environment to enjoy!

PTA

It has been great to see that our PTA also is taking on the enviro message and have been fundraising using environmentally friendly products that help reduce our waste such as re-useable produce bags and steel straws, made by one of our own ex-pupils.