Coastal focus for NRC teacher workshop

Twenty-eight teachers are set to attend a special Northland Regional Council workshop highlighting the environmental education teaching opportunities offered by the region’s 3200 kilometre coastline.

Teachers from Whangarei, Mid and Far North schools will gather on Wednesday 30 May at Taipa Area School’s seaside teaching whare, Nga Taitokorua, for the day-long environmental education workshop.

Susan Botting, Environmental Education Officer with the council, says Northland’s warm climate and lengthy coastline makes the region one of the most coast-focussed parts of New Zealand.

With that in mind, the council decided on a coastal theme for its 2012 teacher’s environmental education workshop.

“Our coast offers an incredible range of environmental education opportunities for teachers in all sorts of fields from the sciences to the arts,” says Ms Botting.

She says as part of the workshop teachers will look at rocky shore, dunes, estuaries and mangroves. Their hands-on environmental education action will see them planting hundreds of dune plants in the Taipa Bay foreshore adjacent to the workshop venue.

Teachers will also hear from a variety of the council’s experts on topics including local estuary monitoring work and dune care.  Two schools will present on their coastal-focussed environmental education initiatives.

There will also be hands-on pingao weaving opportunities with Far North specialist Betsy Young.

Ms Botting says teachers from a wide variety of schools from Bream Bay to Taipa have successfully applied to attend the workshop.

“The workshop will empower teachers to boost their coastal-themed environmental education, in turn giving students opportunities to get involved in caring for Northland’s unique coastal environment.”