Kiwi project ‘an invaluable source’ of practical learning for pupils
Three years of hard work will come to fruition today for students at a Mākara school.
There’ll be a new two-legged critter running beneath the pines at the back of Mākara Model School in Wellington. And no, it’s not schoolchildren making the most of the bike track or building huts in the bush.
Thirteen North Island brown kiwi are set to be released into the hills beyond the school this weekend, with dozens more due to join them next year.
The Mākara students and their whānau have supported the return, helping prepare the land over the past three years by conducting daily checks of a trap line that runs through the school.
Principal Caro Wills said it had been special for the students to see their hard work come to fruition after the school helped make a dent in the area’s pest population. Twelve traps set across the school grounds had helped reduce the number of rats, mice and possums – this year they’ve caught about 14 – and their catch is fed to the growing eel population in the creek alongside the school.
‘‘It’s been nice watching the [predator] numbers come down,’’ Wills says. At the same time, the students have learned valuable lessons about their environment.
‘‘We’ve been able to develop skills within the children in a practical and purposeful way.’’
The ‘‘skills-driven curriculum’’ mean the children could better understand the impact of their actions. ‘‘In maintaining that and having the children involved in that little project they are now able to see the fruition of that and the massive impact with the kiwi coming to our area,’’ Wills says.
The project had helped ‘‘normalise’’ other conservation efforts, such as community plantings, local beach clean-ups and water quality monitoring.
Even Wills’ 9-month-old pup Luna has been involved, and is now trained in kiwi aversion. ‘‘It’s been an invaluable source of learning for our children. For them to be involved ... has been great for their learning.’’
It had helped them realise ‘‘little steps that seem insignificant’’ could have a huge impact.
Huge like the country’s largest conservation project to take place on private land.
Excitement had been building in anticipation of the kiwi being released, Wills says. ‘‘They are so proud. This is such a privilege.’’
Few if any of the school’s 80 pupils have seen kiwi in the wild before.
Year 8 student Charlotte Robinson says the first time she saw a kiwi was on Stewart Island, where the birds wander freely across walking trails, even in daylight. She recognised not all might be able to go.
‘‘Personally I’m really excited to have kiwi here,’’ she says. ‘‘It’s kinda cool to have it right here.’’
Her fellow pupils are equally enthused. Thirteen-year-old Billie Kyle says it was an ‘‘amazing step’’ towards the school’s goals of kaitiakitanga (guardianship).
‘‘I think it’s really cool because for me and lots of little ones and people at our school we’ve only seen kiwis in captivity.’’
Elena Reid, also 13, says the kiwi project has been a feature of her years of going to Mākara school. ‘‘We try as a school to do a lot of kaitiakitanga and taking care of the Earth.’’