Broadlands school win bronze enviroschool award

Broadlands School have won a bronze Enviroschool Award for the second year in a row.

Last week Mayor Rick Cooper and Environmental Educator Sarah Painter presented the school with their award, praising the efforts students and staff have made towards being a sustainable school.

Mayor Rick was particularly impressed with the students knowledge of sustainability and the reasons why these environmental projects are carried out. “The students not only know what to do but they also have a great understanding of why it is so important for our future. When we were at school we planted trees but we didn’t really know why – these students knew all about why they are planting trees and why it is important to recycle.”

Broadlands School is one of nine Enviroschools in Taupo District and part of the 23% of New Zealand schools that are involved in the Enviroschools programme.

“Enviroschools is a whole school approach to environmental education” says Taupo District Council’s Environmental Educator, Sarah Painter. “Students not only learn about the environment in the classroom, they plan, design and carry out projects that actively help the environment and contribute to the community,” she said.

Projects implemented at Broadlands School have included school wide recycling - including food scraps which are fed to pigs, planting native plants in the school grounds, reusing old fence posts for garden edges and using old corrugated iron to make animal sculptures in the gardens. Plans for creating an organic edible garden and punga potting shed are well under way.

For more information on the Enviroschools Programme and Environmental Education, contact Taupo District Council’s Environmental Educator, Sarah Painter.