Possum monitoring time 🧐

Are possums present in our school gully whānau? Well we're about to find out... 🧐

Using a tried & true technique (good ol' peanut butter smeared into corflute and nailed to a tree!) we aim to identify if they're here, and if they are we'll also hopefully get an idea of how abundant they are!

The kids prepared and distributed the 'chew cards' throughout the gully, and can't wait to get back in there to find out what they tell us... some even claiming they wanted to do a gully sleepover so that when they wake they can check them without delay 😅

The play

However, I'm mindful that children are not a workforce, nor can I reasonably expect them to deeply care for nature if they don't get time to simply be in it.

So with this in mind and our 'hard work' behind us, we simply allowed these kids to be kids!

They built a 'shop' out of branches and ponga leaves, sold 'hot meals' to their friends and hunted down kotare they could hear 'kreek'ing away in the tree tops. One child found a kawakawa that needed planting - promptly getting into it without fuss, and they all explored the muddy corners of the gully with glee ☺️

Building kaitiaki

I think we're all still learning how to best foster our next generation of kaitiaki, and are very much finding our way as we go. But these kids are certainly a joy to be around, and their enthusiasm definitely keeps the fires burning!

Let's do our best to cherish our children's tamarikitanga. As we all know too well... we'll be looking back someday soon wondering where the time went!

Have a wonderful weekend e te whānau.

Matua Jake