Our tamariki is the place to start a big change in the way things happen.
The future is right now and we have to make mistakes, make good choices but always try
to be a little bit better.
"You did an awesome job of listening this morning, you know thinking about the food
chain yesterday and thinking about why we need to save the Hauraki Gulf.
We're going over there to look at the Hauraki Gulf because we can see it and what we do
here at school impacts on the Hauraki Gulf.
My name's Tanya de Bazin I started teaching here in 2002.
Teaching in the same school for 18 years ,19 years you get very entrenched in the community
which is an awesome thing because I'm teaching generations of families now and that's pretty
awesome.
"Yep it is the harbour down there.
What harbour is it?
The Waitemāta.
Point at the harbour bridge.
Skay so the people that came before us were thinking about us because they weren't going
to be driving over the harbour bridge for a long time they were thinking about the people
that came after them."
Everything that we do is about taking responsibility and that's what leads us into sustainability
all the time.
"And so whatever we drop in the playground, where does it end up?
Our plastic can come down here and it ends up in our faux river so what's going to happen
with all those fish in the Waitemāta harbour?"
*students answering "inaudible* "They eat them don't they?
They eat the plastic."
I get passionate about things like the environment and children's pathways and the choices that
they make and building trust within a community and the community working together.
"Thank you very much, nice to meet you."
"Call me Matua Dave Ae.
And this is Matua Hone over here.
So what does matua mean?
*students answering - "Uncle?"
"Yeah, elder, so we're the elders."
At the moment Papatūānuku is not well, she's pretty sick and the marae group are going
to do our damndest to make sure that Papatūānuku is all fixed up."
"He honore, he kororia."
*students repeat - "He honore, he kororia."
Students recite - "...(inaudible) It's up to us to care for the environment and in doing
so ensures our own well-being and that of future generations."
*clapping* "We should have followed you guys."
Rather than isolating it and teaching about "the environment" and the things that they
need to learn about being environmentally friendly, it's about living the choices if
you actually get out into the community and touch it with your hands and you're hearing
stories from those matua and kaumatua that have the history and the knowledge of the
area it feels much more real to them.
"These are all different harakeke that we use.
Some of the harakeke are used for bags.
You don't use the same harakeke because some of them are soft which can be used for a rope.
We've planted all these different harakeke which is donated by all the whānau that you
can see.
We're supposed to be known as a green country and to be able to do that we need to live
the talk.
It would be much easier for teachers if the resources and the support from the Ministry
enabled teachers to teach sustainability, that it became part of who we are.
It's mentioned in the curriculum about becoming global citizens but that needs to be broken
down.
We don't need to just read, write and do maths to be global citizens.
We need to be able to save the planet together, sustainably.
"This pūriri tree is a gift from Te Atatū Marae to your school."
"Now we have a seedling from a seed here on the peninsula and we're going to take care
of that.
The people that come after us will have the joy of that tree."
"What the marae wants to be is sustainable, it's about renewing our resources.
You are the ones that will be the kaitiaki."
"They are the future."
"They are the future you are the future, cool aye?
"Who knows that they can make a difference?"
*students replying* - "Me!"
"I'd just like them to be able to take responsibility and be proud of the changes that they make.
Not always that they have done the right thing but that they're changing choices and making
better choices for the future because some children are going to have big obstacles to
overcome and to know that they can overcome them and move on and make a better life for
themselves and their next generation is absolutely what I'd like them to think of when they think
of me.
"Waste is an interesting thing because really it is just a reflection of consumption.
There is no lying about what's in your rubbish bag.
Now in the country we have these super landfills that are filling up way too fast.
Our capacity is not great enough to cope with what's being produced we realised that we
were going to be quite extreme there weren't many people doing what we were trying to do."