03/09/2026
🌿🌱 TREES FOR SURVIVAL PLANTING DAY 🌱🌿
What a fantastic day out for our Year 4–8 students at Paerata Road!
After nurturing and growing our native seedlings at school, it was finally time to get them into the ground, and our students absolutely loved it! Around 1,000 native seedlings were planted, with plenty of digging, teamwork, laughter… and of course, mud between our toes (and maybe in an ear or two!).
The weather played nicely, the rain stayed away, and everyone worked incredibly hard getting stuck in, helping one another and tackling the job with enthusiasm and plenty of smiles. But what makes this day even more special is knowing that the mahi (work) our students did will have a lasting impact on our local environment.
These little seedlings will grow into native plants that will help strengthen the whenua, protect the soil, reduce erosion, improve water quality, provide food and shelter for native birds and insects, and create valuable habitat for our local wildlife. What looks today like rows of tiny plants will, over time, become a thriving piece of native habitat, something our children can return to in years to come and proudly say: “We planted those.”
It is such a powerful way for our children to learn about kaitiakitanga (guardian) caring for our land and understanding that the actions we take today can make a difference for generations to come. And the feedback from our children said it all:
“Hope we can do this next year!”
“Such a fun day!”
“I am loving this it beats doing maths!” 😂
“I can’t wait to see the plants grow and see their progress.”
We absolutely loved hearing that last one. There is something pretty special about planting something with your own hands and knowing you’ll be able to watch it grow and change over the years.
A massive thank you to our incredible planting & transport team: Lou, Nick, Sarah, Gill, Dev, Nick, Megan, Nook, Cindy and Kirsty for giving your time, getting stuck in and helping make the day such a success. And a huge thank you to our wonderful Trees for Survival coordinator, Kate, for all the organisation, guidance and support behind the scenes.
And of course, we can’t forget wee Honey! 🐶 Our very enthusiastic unofficial planting assistant, entertainer and expert digger! She certainly kept everyone smiling.
What a day! What a team! What an awesome bunch of kids! From tiny seedlings grown by our students, to a future home for native birds, insects and plants this is mahi (work) that will keep giving long after our tamariki have left school. https://www.tfsnz.org.nz
