The tuatara, from Christchurch’s Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, was a visitor at the preschool last year as part of its enquiring project which teaches children how to ask questions in preparation for primary school.
The preschool’s assistant manager in charge of transition to school, Katherine Street, says each year the group of children who are preparing to go to primary school the next year are asked to name something that they are particularly interested in for the group to study.
‘‘The projects help the children develop the skills they will need when they get to school,’’ Ms Street says.
‘‘They get to learn how to ask questions about what they want to learn.’’
Last year’s group of 11 children, most of whom will begin attending Fernside School when the first term begins on Monday, January 30, chose to focus on space, reptiles and the sea.
The tuatara was a popular guest during studies for the reptile project.
‘‘The children loved it. They were most fascinated,’’ Katherine says.
The tuatara visit also attracted interest from other teachers at the school and some parents.
Tuatara have an average lifespan of about 60 years but keep growing until they are about 35 and can live up to 100 years.
They are a protected species under the New Zealand Wildlife Ac. They have an at›risk›relict (small population stabilised after declining) conservation status.
The ancient reptiles, which live in burrows and are mainly nocturnal, once lived throughout the South Island, but wild populations now only exist on islands off the North Island and in the Marlborough Sounds.
By SHELLEY TOPP
