Community Park Restoration – Taupō Primary School
Taupō Primary School is Taupō’s original school, part of the community since 1894. The school is located in the town’s busy urban centre. Both the school and the town have grown considerably over time. To ensure tamariki can play outdoors and connect with nature, students are regularly given the opportunity to visit the community park opposite the school.
Over time this park had become neglected, filled with litter and exposed to the cold southerly winds. Teachers and students at the school were keen to see an improvement, and Kids Greening Taupō (KGT) were ready to help. Together they mapped out a plan to replant a section of the park in native trees and restore an aging carved waharoa (gateway).
Once the plans were in place KGT helped the school find funding and provided support to make it a reality. Taupō District Council and local businesses jumped on board, helping to prepare the planting area and providing some trees and mulch. A series of planting days were held involving students, teachers, whānau and community volunteers. With the support of a creative arts grant from Taupō District Council, master carver Delani Brown carefully restored the waharoa to its former glory, involving a number of students in the restoration and carving process.
More planting followed in 2019, including a student army volunteer project to create a garden in another part of the park. The next phase of the project plan is to add seating, upgrade the water fountain, and investigate covering the utilities box on the corner of Titiraupenga St with native flora and fauna art.
In 2022, Kids Greening Taupō coordinator, Rachel spoke to a class of Taupō Primary School students about planting native plants to bring back biodiversity. After hearing about Aotearoa’s declining lizard population, the students decided to turn an area of their back field into a lizard friendly garden. They chose a sunny spot with rocks and then planted native grasses and ground covers around them for lizard habitat. They planted species that have berries that lizards like to eat too. The berm between the field and road was also planted in native species. Finally, they infill planted the Taupō Community Park’s gardens with more native trees and added a new area of native planting too. The project continues!
“For our students, the project has been about learning new skills while connecting to nature. By restoring and protecting the whenua, our tamariki gain a sense of responsibility and confidence. They are learning the power of collective action to make positive change.” Liz France, Taupō Primary School Teacher.
Thanks so much to First Credit Union for funding the plants used in the 2022 project.
