Learning 4 Sustainability

Learning for Sustainability

What have been our key area of progression?

New Enviro Science course in Yr 12 and 13 - with EfS standards
More students connecting to outside community sustainability programmes and projects
Lucas Creek a stronger focus in a wider range of classes
More 'service' based learning projects within our curriculum development
Increased emphasis on sustainability within programmes

Teacher feedback- how much progress are we making?

Here are just a 'tiny' selection of some great new learning initiatives at Kristin..

Little Doves: With our inquiries and life in the classroom we integrate ideas about mānakitanga (hospitality and caring for the mana of others), kaitiakitanga (guardianship- particularly of the natural world) and the importance of whānaungatanga (relationships). These values are part of our every day conversations, woven through both life and learning, rather than being 'taught' in isolation. We really love making things tangible for the children, helping them make connections through real life learning. For example by playing around our orchard the children notice seasonality, the life cycles of plants, the relationships between insects (and the worms in our worm cafe) and plants, and what, when and how fruit is produced. Teacher Sacha Hickman

Dystopian sci-fi unit for Level 3 media - the whole basis of our societal concerns that builds the relationship between audience and the genre is around sustainability concepts. We have between 20 & 30 societal concerns that build the genre and work on this for over a term. - Helen McKissock Media Teacher

I like our Year 8 Unique NZ unit where the students look at NZ's endangered species and how organisations like DOC are protecting them. We go to Tiritiri Matangi. The students also get creative and design an animal that has adapted to its environment. - Anitia Jones CL for MS Science.

Sharing the planet, recycling, water pollution, how little people can make a difference. I set a wetlands provocation where I plant defrosted pilchard trapped in an array of litter taken from our area, one in a plastic bag, one stuck in a yoghurt tub, one which had a soy sauce bottle trapped in its mouth. Then we talked about the indigenous in our streams and went for a wlk to see if we could see any. We came across the dead pilchards and the litter and from there we explored where is have come from, how it got there, which led us to look at Kristin drains and our system to try and clean the water before it enters the rivers. Totally hands on engaging unit. They did of course blame the 'big kids' because that was where they saw most litter dropped. Year one is very self righteous (: JS Teacher - Carol Page-Wood

Year 10 Sustainability Dance Film. Term 2, Week 6-9 into Term 3, Week 1-2. We study how dance films can be used as a medium to promote awareness of a sustainability issue. Case study of NZ choreographer and film director Corey Baker (known for his work on climate change). Students define an issue, a concept and then collaboratively choreograph, plan, shoot and edit a film to be played around DITD season. - Dance Teacher - Tessa Lauago

Kaupapa Ako: Our new, successful NCEA Enviro Science course

Student 'Action is a key aspect of this course - with projects around pest control, planting, water conservation, waste reduction, increasing biodiversity growing vegetables and much more...

Enviro Science at Kristin.mp4

Interview with Mr McLeod - What is the Enviro Science course at Kristin?

13NCEA Environmental Studies student guide 2022 (1).doc

Wellbeing and Lucas Creek - 2022 .pdf

Wahi: Lucas Creek grows at Kristin...

Since 2019, the use and enjoyment of our school stream and bush area has grown. From Little Doves up into Yr 13 Health, we are learning, growing and developing in this space.

In the JS every year level visits the area when exploring topics linked to 'Sharing the Planet' some visit as often as once a week. Little Doves and the Kindergarten use this space too.

In the MS students visit in Science, in Humanities, in Wellbeing and in many other subjects. It is a popular place to visit - the concept of Green Therapy is explored.

In the SS students use the space for inspiration and in a wide range of curriculum areas - including Enviro Science, Health, Dance, Photography and English.

IDU Pitch Presentation .pdf

Video Link to David and Richard's Saving the World I see pitch

Kaupapa Ako: Yr 10 'Saving the World I See' unit

The IDU assessment is a project that year 10s complete from mid to end of term two. The assessment is based upon making your own NGO about a problem in the world you are passionate about, such as slavery or climate change. You then research that topic and present it to your class and teachers in the style of a pitch, with the end goal of making the audience want to invest in your NGO - students are given 'donation funds' before the lesson. I think that this is a vital process for the Year 10s to complete because of its use outside of school, like presenting pitches later in life and also thinking of solutions to fundamental problems that the world is facing from a younger age than average . Written by Yr 10 Hudson Kirkbeck.

Kaupapa Ako More Sustainability in Business Studies

Within Kristin economics, sustainability is one of the core concepts which our curriculum focuses on. When we learn economic concepts and models, we incorporate environmental sustainability into these studies. One example is during our topic on externalities. Externalities are defined as an unintended side effect on an unrelated third party through the use or creation of a good or service. While normally this third party is seen as a one person or a group, we were specially taught the case of environmental damage causing an unintended side effect on future generations. Through this example and many more, I gained a completely new perspective to the nature of environmentally unsustainable actions and taught me to value a new victim; our descendants. This perspective had a substantial role in the role of my startup where I considered the implication of producing our product helped me realise that for our product to be truly “successful”, we had to move towards a sustainable means of production. By Aubery Rong, Yr 12 Business Student.

Challenge 2_ Pitch.pdf

Tangata - Our Young Enterprise Scheme goes more sustainable

Currently only 52% of recyclable materials are correctly disposed of, equivalent to 342 thousand tonnes of resources going into landfills. The accessibility and rapid production of plastics has made overconsumption more relevant than ever. Therefore, SustainaBeads aims to raise awareness for the excessive consumption of single-use materials in hopes of progressing to a more sustainable future. Our company provides an alternative perspective to common household waste items. We produce versatile jewellery made from recycled plastic that elevates style and sustainability. The process consists of collecting materials, design, melting and assembling. The melting process varies depending on the design. For marble pieces, we cut milk bottles into small pieces and melt under a sandwich press the polish into desired shape. For our flower drop earrings we cut clear plastic bottles into a flower shape and place a naked flame under individual cutouts. Please check out our online store for more info! *sustainabeadsnz.mystorbie.com* - Written by Yr 12 Lisa Yuan - CEO of Sustainabeads

less is more Sem 1 2021.mp4

9OED Course Overview 2022.docx.pdf

Kaupapa Ako: Less is More Camp

As part of our “Local Lens of Inquiry” both Year 9 Outdoor Education classes explore the significance of our own backyard, as well as getting ‘back to basics’. Students are divided into tribes, and travel through the Massey Bush and Lucas Creek area collecting clues, completing challenges and learning about the bush. Their journey finishes in the bush block on the Kristin School grounds, where students cook a feast on the fire and set up their hammock and tarp shelters to sleep in.

Tony Church - Yr 9 Outdoor Ed teacher

Kaupapa Ako: Sustainable Engineering now part of the SS programme

Mr Allan offers an amazing Sustainable Engineering Units of work in Yr 11, 12 and 13 Engineering Course.

The booklet states the following:

Sustainability learning is an important part of Engineering. This booklet has been presented in the form of a personal journey designed to both inform students and to get them thinking about their own world views, the risks and opportunities that lie ahead together with the actions they can take in their own lives as a result. This part of the Engineering Design course will be an excellent opportunity to think about the future that you will be inhabiting.

"No one can predict the future. All we can do is work as best we can towards creating an environment where a new, truly sustainable human flourishing can occur without diminishing the flourishing of the other life that we depend on and share this biosphere with. This will require cooperation between individuals, groups, nations and across generations to restore our world to a place where all life can thrive and countless billions more people in the future can experience the wonderous journey of a life well lived". - Written By Martin Allen, Curriculum Leader of Engineering.

Sustainable Engineering Booklet.pdf

_'be significant' through Service As Action.pdf

Y7 Being Significant Unit

During the last term in Humanities, we focused on reducing food waste at Kristin. 36.6% of the waste at Kristin came from food. Our group partnered with Fair Food a charity working on giving food to the less fortunate. We made a compost bin and posters to encourage composting and generally reduce wasted food at Kristin. Our intention was to encourage people to think about the environment and think about how much food is wasted, Just in New Zealand alone 122,547 tonnes of food a year get thrown away each year which can feed around 262,917 people. Doing this project made me realise just how much food is wasted and how many people could benefit from everyone doing the right thing. I am 100% less likely to waste food now after working on this project. - Written By Yr 7 Fiona Lakeman

Jack, Shayan and Toby - Wai Care Humanities Proposal.pdf

Wahi: IDU - Wai Care? Finding Solutions to water issues in our local community.

Since 2021 we have implemented a new topic in Year 9 - designed to help improve the development and understanding of local water issues. Wai Care is a 10 week unit, with Humanities and Science together looking at water issues and ways we can manage our water resources more sustainably - We are working with Whitebait Connection and doing regular water testing of our school stream as part of this unit. Our students do an in depth inquiry into a fresh water issue they are passionate about and share their solutions with the class. Topics include farming, stormwater, beach pollutions, microplastics and more. in 2022 we will be back to our 'field trip' mode and will be looking at the water management in Milford and comparing modern day stormwater protections with the old 'canels' built in the 1950's and 60's in the Wairau Valley area. Our students come up with AMAZING solutions to these important issues.

Written by Sarah Wakeford - Curriculum Leader for Yr 9 Humanities

Kaupapa Ako: Yr 4 Wetlands Warriors

On the 7th of April, Year 4 went down to The Kristin Wetlands with Kathryn from Watercare.

It was 8:50 in the morning and the weather was sunny. We worked collaboratively together in five groups. Each group had a bucket, a scoop, a detective kit and Freshwater Detectives sheet with questions on it.

The sides and the bed of the waterway was made of mud, sticks, leaves and moss. We estimated the Wetlands to be 2 metres wide by guessing how many big steps it would take to walk through it. We found some rubbish. In the first part of the creek, we found a tennis ball, a paper wrapper, a ping pong ball and a small bucket. In the second part of the stream, we found a beer bottle and a squashed can.

The water was flowing calmly down the waterway. The groups said the water was not safe to drink because there was bird poo, bugs and bacteria. We did turbidity, pH, nitrate and temperature tests. The waterway was in quite good condition.

We searched for bugs in the waterway and we found Paddleworms, Damselfly and a few other bugs. We had a great time at the waterway.

The most interesting part of our wetlands trip was the measurements. I like this part of measurements because it is fun to do and tells you a lot about the water, pollution and things in the water. It was also exciting when we found a macroscopic bug or insect.

We found out that the most popular macroscopic bug was the Damselfly.

It swims in the water, not like most of the bugs which is surprising.

Written by Ms Bell - Yr 4 Enviro teacher

Kaupapa Ako: Learning about sustainability issues in Languages

Our languages department are ALWAYS teaching about sustainability in their programmes in different languages - in all year levels - this story was unable to be finished due to an unwell staff member - we'll add the 'blurb' as soon as we can :) Thanks !

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