Friday, 24 March 2023 12:55

Tank delivers water for school garden

Written by Staff Reporters

font size decrease font size increase font size
Print
Email

Oropi School was a recipient of Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s School Sustainability and Resilience Fund.

A Bay of Plenty school will be able to keep its fruit and veg plants hydrated with the help of a new rainwater tank.

Oropi School was a recipient of Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s School Sustainability and Resilience Fund which has allowed it to install a 1,600-litre rainwater tank so they can water their gardens over the summer months, even out of school hours and through the school holidays.

The rural school runs a garden to table program where the students learn to grow their own food, harvest it, and then use it to cook meals together.

However, up until the installation of the rainwater tank, students have not been able to plant in the garden greenhouse because of a lack of water supply to it.

Oropi School principal Andrew King says support from the fund enabled them to install the rainwater tank in December, a move which has helped to alleviate water issues during the summer months.

The new tank has meant the school could set up an irrigation system, with the greenhouse being self-sufficient. It also meant there was no risk of draining the school’s boar.

King says the garden to table sessions have been invaluable to students today.

“In the 90s there was a big push for pupils to be using computers and learn that technology,” he says.

“Today, our children need to get back in touch with nature and the environment, with hands-on learning – these sessions foster that.

“Learning about the needs of the modern world and how to connect to the land because more and more children are living on smaller sections and don’t have the opportunities or space at home,” King says.

The School Sustainability and Resilience Fund is designed to support schools and early childhood education centres to carry out sustainability projects and prepare for the impacts of climate change and natural hazards.

The 2023 fund is still open for applications for schools and early childhood centres to apply for their share of $35,000.

Applications close for the School Sustainability and Resilience Fund 2023 on Friday, 31 March.

For more information on the fund and application forms, head to www.boprc.govt.nz/sustainability-resilience-fund

More like this

Massey Launches Ag and Hort Courses for Teachers

Special courses for secondary school teachers to help excite kids about agriculture and horticulture are now being run at Massey University.

Government Launches New Rural Leadership Scholarship

The Government has announced a new rural scholarship designed to back emerging primary sector leaders.

Back to School

OPINION: This old mutt went to school to eat his lunch, but still knows the future of the country, and the primary sector, depends on a conveyor belt of well-educated youth coming through the system.

Feilding Agricultural High School Farm Programme Blends Education and Real-World Farming

Feilding Agricultural High School isn't alone in offering agricultural or horticultural subjects as part of its curriculum, but the location of one of its farms on the northern edge of the urban fringe makes for some interesting considerations.

ACT Proposes ‘Open Seat Rule’ for Rural School Buses

ACT MP and Minister for Biosecurity Andrew Hoggard says he's hearing a common story about school buses, with empty seats, driving past pick-up points, while a parent follows behind in a farm ute, burning fuel and taking up time to get their children to school.

Featured

Third H5 Bird Flu Case Found in NZ Wild Bird

Testing confirms H5 bird flu in a single northern giant petrel, found dead on a remote Cape Palliser beach in the Wairarapa, says Dr Mary van Andel, the Ministry for Primary Industries' (MPI) Chief Veterinary Officer.

80% of NZ Parents Say Dinner Planning Is Too Much Effort

"What's for dinner?" may sound like a simple question, but for many Kiwi parents, answering it has become a job in itself.

Historic Claas Senator Combine Returns to Work in Suffolk

Fifty Eight years ago, on the 16th of August 1968, August Claas, the founder of the harvesting company and father of Helmut Claas, personally presented a Claas Senator combine harvester to Scottish farmer John Steven.

NZ Beef Mince Now Over $24/kg as Export Demand Stays Strong

New Zealand consumers are paying more for beef mince than ever before, with the average retail price now sitting above $24 per kilogram, according to Rabobank.