On Tuesday , 6th of August , Kāhu students , Kāhu teachers , and some parent helpers went on a trip to Botanic Gardens for our Launch theme “Kaitiakitanga.” We also went to Totara Park but unfortunately, I was sick that day. It was around a 20 minute walk going there and coming back to school . When we finally arrived we sat down on the wet grass while the teachers and parent helpers looked at there sheet of paper which would give instructions on what they would do for the day . After a few minutes the teachers explained on how the day would go and introduced all of the parent helpers . Miss Rowland started to call out the people in each group and as I waited I watched everyone settle into their groups . But finally my name got called out . I was in a group with: Mya , Kaitlyn , Miya B , Ishita , Lorval , Paige , and the parent helper , which was Mya’s mum.

When I joined my group, the first activity we did was a scavenger hunt. The challenge was to find plants and flowers with names starting from A to Z, using an app called “Seek.” This app helped us identify various plants around Botanic Gardens. We quickly pulled out our devices and began scanning every plant in sight. We encountered many brightly colored flowers, with lots of them in bright shades of pink, yellow, purple, and red. We wrote down each one on our paper as we found them. At first, we weren’t sure if we’d finish, but we did it! After we finished, we went back to where we started, had morning tea, and took a short break. Then, we went on a trail walk and found out how the trees help the filter the water with their roots around Botanic Gardens. After this lovely adventure to the Botanic Gardens we called this day an end and walked back to school just in time for lunch!

You may be wondering, what is kaitiakitanga? and what is it about..? Well, kaitiakitanga is all about caring for the environment, like the sea and our land. Kaitiakitanga also translates to guardianship and protection. So we should all be kaitiakitanga and care for our environment and be its guardian.