Te Waotu School gets GOLD for being GREEN

Hats off to Te Waotu School for being awarded gold for their environmental projects under the Enviroschools programme. Te Waotu is the first school in the South Waikato to receive the award.

"Council funds the programme together with Waikato Regional Council and Enviroschools Foundation," said James Piddock, Council's Environmental Monitoring Officer who facilitates the Enviroschools programme. "Council is very proud that one of our local Enviroschools has achieved gold."

"Te Waotu school has a fantastic 'green' philosophy," said Mayor Neil Sinclair who attended the award presentation. "The effort, enthusiasm and ingenuity that the children, parents, principal and teachers put into their environmental projects is an example to others."

Te Waotu School registered as an Enviroschool seven years ago and were one of the first South Waikato schools to take up the environmentally sustainable challenge. There are now eight local schools signed up.

Bruce Darroch, principal of Te Waotu School is proud of the school's recent achievement. "Everyone in the school is involved in our environmental projects; from the students themselves to the teachers, parents and wider community," said Mr Darroch. "Every successful programme needs a leader, someone who drives the project and provides guidance and enthusiasm. That person for our school is Gertie Vullings. Not only does she keep things on track but she has the most amazing ideas!"

The school has worked through a multitude of projects, including planting 500 trees a year along local waterways as part of the riparian protection initiative. The students actually grow and nurture these trees in a propagation area. The children also grow vegetables that they sell and the funding goes back into the school. One of their more recent projects focussed on electricity concentration.

"But we take our commitment to environmental sustainability one step further," continued Mr Darroch. "Our school is very old, 127 years; and we place huge importance on the history of the school, surrounding Te Waotu community and our culture.

"Being a Gold school is all encompassing for us," said Mr Darroch. "It's not just about respecting our environment, but about respecting our culture, relationships, our community and each other."

The Enviroschools Programme supports children and young people to be active citizens, contributing to ecological regeneration and the creation of healthy, resilient and sustainable communities. Council has supported the programme since 2008 and is exceptionally proud of the achievements of Te Waotu and all the other schools who participate in Enviroschools.

Other local Enviroschools are: Kuranui, Tirau, Tainui, Strathmore, Tokoroa North, Putāruru and St Mary's primary schools.

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