The little school that could ...
Millers Flat School, which has a roll of 33, has won the top Enviroschools award after reflection and discussion by the programme’s leaders and the community.
Principal Hilary Spedding was delighted with the achievement.
"I’ve taken two schools to silver but this is my first gold."
Her interest in the Enviroschools programme began when her sons, now in their 30s, were involved at their school.
"We lived on a farm and didn’t have a dustbin. They said you have to recycle those milk bottles and I had to take a fadge to the recycling every month."
Enviroschool was a collaborative learning programme which was embedded in the whole school, she said.
"It’s a whole philosophy, really, teaching the children about looking after the environment and what that means.
"It’s part of everything we do. It’s not an add-on — we use it for our reading, writing and maths. We use environmental themes for those kind of things [and] also to teach the children about the environment and how they need to look after it."
The school began its journey in 2015, achieved bronze in 2016 and silver in 2021.
"It’s all about the children and how they have been empowered to run the Enviroschools at the school the way they wanted to.
"Also, the community is a big part of this as well."
Everyone was invited to attend the assessment which was led by Enviroschools regional co-ordinator lead Leisa de Klerk and Central Otago Reap Enviroschools facilitator Lucy Franke.
Ms Franke said the children had worked really hard to work sustainability practices into everything they did at school.
Involving the community was important, as was embracing diversity in the community and te ao Maori, she said.
Pupils guided groups of visitors around the school highlighting the work they had been doing.
