Wairoa Enviroschools Page

23/08/2026

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03/08/2026

Today I got to visit the fantastic ruma 5 at Wairoa Primary school. 🍃

I took my very big lavender plant in to visit the Tamariki and staff so they could learn a little bit about the flowers and how to dry them for a special project they are doing. 💜

We also talked about bees and how lavender helps to look after them 🐝

Thanks for having me Whaeas and Tamariki! 💚

03/08/2026

Today’s afternoon adventure was to Ohuka! 🍃

It was so nice to head out and visit the whānau at Ohuka school today. The sun was shining bright and the Tamariki were keen to show me the amazing progress they have made since I last visited. 🌳

We looked at their new trees, added some new friends into their worm farm together and chatted about their up and coming amazing projects they doing at their Kura! Thank you all for having me and I can’t wait to visit again. 💚🪱

27/07/2026

Where did my mahi take me today? Nūhaka!

I was so grateful to be able to head out and connect with the beautiful Nuhaka school today! 💚 listening to the plans and amazing ideas happening within the staff and students was awesome! I’m so looking forward to being a part of it and helping where I can. 🍃

I was also blessed to be able to visit The Potion Rooms fabulously delish garden paradise including meet and greets with a Piwakawaka, a sleepy bumble bee, some lovely caterpillars and stunning flowers. 🌷Thanks everyone for making my day so much fun!

23/07/2026

Huge Nga Mihi to the amazing Stacey Flanagan, who has kindly donated these goodies to go towards my spring enviro packs. 🍃

Such a ataahua gesture to help keep our littlest Tamariki engaged and learning about the beauty of our natural world and its little residents. 💚

Way to go Stacey! 🌻

20/07/2026

Yay! School is back for our Tamariki and our amazing school staff 🍃 which means Enviroschools can pick up where we left off and start preparing for spring!

We have had a bit of a rough few weeks here in Te Wairoa, big thoughts and wishes to the whānau who were affected by the weather event on the 9th of July 💚

Look forward to updating with some awesome mahi adventures for term 3 🌳

09/07/2026

Te Wairoa schools! 💚🍃
Whānau we can nomimate our schools to be considered for a maara kai grant!

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Nominate your local school to receive one of our Ngā Māra Kai o Matariki grants! 🌿✨
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If your school has a māra kai (food garden), nominate them in the comments and tell us why they deserve one of five $300 Ngā Māra Kai o Matariki grants.

Thank you to 2024 grant recipient Arahoe School for showing us the amazing progress you've made with your mara kai!

Mānawatia a Matariki!

09/07/2026

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You watched a butterfly struggling to push through the tiny opening of her chrysalis. She was stuck. She was fighting. It looked painful. You couldn't stand it. You took a small scissors and carefully widened the opening so she could get out.

She emerged easily. Her body was swollen. Her wings were tiny and shriveled. She crawled across the table. She never flew. She died within a day.

The struggle you interrupted was the mechanism that saves her. As a butterfly pushes against the walls of the chrysalis, the effort forces hemolymph — the insect equivalent of blood — from her swollen abdomen into the veins of her wings. The pressure inflates the wings, stretches them to full size, and prepares them for flight. Without the resistance of the chrysalis walls, the fluid never moves. The wings never inflate. They harden while still folded. The butterfly is perfectly formed except for the one thing she needs to survive.

You didn't help her escape. You bypassed the system that builds her wings. The kindness was real. The result was permanent.

This is one of the most common intervention mistakes made by butterfly enthusiasts, classroom teachers raising monarchs, and anyone who has watched a chrysalis and couldn't bear the struggle.

If a butterfly is taking longer than normal to emerge — more than a few hours — the chrysalis may be too dry. Gently misting the outside with water can help. But cutting, pulling, or widening the opening removes the resistance the butterfly's body requires to prepare for flight.

The struggle is the construction. Remove the struggle, and the wings never form.

07/07/2026

🖤💚

GET YOUR TEAM TOGEATHER AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Registration is now open for this year's Keep New Zealand Beautiful Clean Up Week.

What a great opportunity to get your friends, family, school, business or local community group together to participate in New Zealand’s largest clean up event and to make a positive and tangible impact in your local community.

Scan the QR code or go to: -https://www.knzb.org.nz/programmes/clean-new-zealand-beautiful/clean-up-week/.

Download our posters while you're there

07/07/2026

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A step-by-step guide on how Holly Neill created her own Mokomoko Manor, a haven where skink buddies now live their best lives in her backyard.