Week 2 - Rest of the week!

TIME FOR A NEW GARDEN.

The children have been coming up with ideas for new gardens and with the help of Denny (well, actually, a lot of help) they created 2 new sites on the side of a east facing bank behind the school fence. The children thought that this garden will get all-day sun and it is also handy to a water supply (a hose) so the garden is easy to water in the summer months.

The site was 'surveyed' and then pegged out. The hard work of breaking the ground and preparing the bed was shared by the hard working gardeners. Blood and Bone and more chook poo was added to the clay soil. (Please note that our young man digging in HIS JANDALS was instructed to bring along some sturdier foorwear! Don't panic)

Mrs Young had purchased 4 Giant Pumpkin seedlings (the seedlings weren't giant - they will produce Giant Pumpkins) so the gardeners lugged 4 tyres into place in readiness for the plants.

Now we have to decide what to plant in these newly created gardens. It WAS going to be Mr Ututaonga's Maori Potatoes but our soil is so rich now it would be better to put in a leafy green vegetable, perhaps beans too! We will keep you posted on that.

We will plant the Peru Peru (Maori potatoes) further up the bank in the old pea bed.

We are looking forward to the Tui/Mitre 10 vouchers arriving in the mail.

Week 2 Tuesday

On Tuesday Brad and Yasith were put to work in the chook house, digging the thick layer of compost from the floor of the pen. The children learnt that it was a wonderful collection of chookie poos and composted vegetable matter. It was full of worms as well!

The children then applied it to the existing vegetable garden which will start to condition the soil just beautifully, getting it ready for our spring planting and also to help the winter vegetables.

Week 2

What a difference the warmer weather has made this week!

It almost feels like spring has sprung....

almost.

Monday saw Declan checking out the beehive with Denny the Caretaker. We are planting thousands of wild flower seeds all around the

bank partly for beautification as well as keeping our bees happy. It will also encourage the bees to our vegetable plants in months to come.

We will be harvesting our very own honey in a few short weeks...YUM!

Tui School Garden Challenge - Opua School

In 2010 the pupils and staff at Opua School decided to design and create a vegetable garden. It was a somewhat tricky brief as here at Opua School we have a very small area of spare land. It was finally decided to turn a small patch of an unused grassy area into three raised beds with paths in between. We are very lucky to have a fantastic Caretaker, who helped the children design the area and then went on to build our new vege patch on a very tight budget.

Our PTA was very supportive and arranged for us to take delivery of a GreenCone compost system. This system is what the manufacturers call a “solar-powered” digester. If situated in a sunny part of your garden the Green Cone system will work 365 days of the year. Using heat from the sun it creates a trap of circulating air that increases the bacteria growth – thereby digesting your food quickly and turning it into a rich soil conditioner. By using this system in combination with the ‘worm juice’ from our 5 worm farms and the chook-poo from the chickens we keep at Opua School we have the most gorgeous, nutrient rich soil anyone could hope for! (With the help of TUI products of course!!)

We have recently purchased a seed propagator and we are all amazed at the speed at which we can get strong healthy seedlings, ready to plant!

This year the pupils of Room 4 will act as the kaitiaki of the school vegetable patch. They have been busy collaborating with the caretaker, designing the spring/summer planting layout and coming up with new ideas for other parts of the school grounds to be used, for example a pumpkin patch over the bank and peas and beans running up the school boundary fences. This and more to come!

We are excited to be sharing our journey with you all and we look forward to posting new photos over the coming weeks!

Opua School

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to Opua School. - Roger Young, Principal

“Opua School will provide a caring and sharing environment that will educate and equip the child for life.”

When children are enrolled we like to enrol the whole family.

We believe that education is something shared by the family and school.

Vision: Working together to be lifelong learners with strength in Thinking & Learning, Values, Attitude,Communication and Leadership

This is how the mission can be achieved.

We feel that Parents, Students and Teachers working together is a big key to success.

To elaborate on the other aspects: Numeracy & Literacy are priorities in Thinking and Learning.

We focus on core Values like respect and courtesy, and on positive Attitudes such as perseverance. Communication encompasses the ability to present capably in written, oral and visual forms. We explore the array of qualities and actions that lead to excellent Leadership throughout the year.

Motto: ‘Manaakitanga me te Awhina’ (Caring and Sharing)

Opua School is a wonderful learning community with supportive parents, hard working teachers, and great children.