Layton Smith and Tamatea Wicks making sure Waihī Beach is spick and span.
Layton Smith and Tamatea Wicks making sure Waihī Beach is spick and span.
Waihī Beach School is celebrating a national win after a huge year of hard toil on environmental and sustainable projects.
It has been rewarded for its efforts by taking the top spot in the sustainable schools award for primary schools as part of Beautiful Awards 2023.
The school was nominated for the award this year in collaboration with Live Well Waihī Beach, and found out last week it was victorious in the primary school category.
Principal Rachael Coll says they have seen a lot of determination and confidence from the children with this year’s projects.
‘’We have had guardian team members joining in from ages 5-11 making this such a success, with an all-embracing approach to our sustainable and environmental challenges. I am proud of our leaders of tomorrow who have been working collectively to share this important message.”
The projects have been wide-ranging with varied community involvement such as working with Predator Free Bowentown and hapū Te Whānau a Tauwhao.
The school has a possum trapping team that regularly traps to help native birds return to Bowentown. Their work started with trapping rats, hedgehogs and mustelids, providing evidence for a co-ordinated, predator-free research.
Many hands making light work — Waihī Beach School students get stuck in to keep their patch clean.
The Waihī Beach Beautiful team cleans the beach every three months. Student leaders support Sustainable Waihī Beach’s efforts with organised beach cleans, and help educate the community and visitors.
Waihī Beach School also worked with Live Well Waihī Beach to create the Matariki-inspired community garden at the north end of Waihi Beach Rd Recreation Reserve.
As part of the awards submission, the students created a short film. Director Beau Wilson, 10, says it was hard to capture all the projects undertaken — from native planting days, the community Pā Harakeke to their dotterel work — “we chose a couple of really good pieces of work and focused on them”.
Beau says they also wanted to celebrate the school winning the Resene Paint New Zealand Beautiful Award for the best nature mural, which looks at protecting waterways — “it is so cool”.
A Sustainable Waihī Beach spokesperson says the amount of work over the past 12 months the children have put in has been phenomenal and the award is a well-deserved recognition of their hard work.
The awards ceremony will be held at Parliament House in November.
Nelson Intermediate School won the same award for intermediate schools and Waiheke High School for high schools nationwide.
Ten New Zealand towns and cities have been shortlisted as finalists in Keep New Zealand Beautiful’s Most Beautiful Towns and Cities awards, running annually since 1972.
There are five categories, ranging from large city to tiny town, each with two finalists.
Christchurch and Tauranga City have made the finals for the most beautiful large city.
The winners will be announced in November at Parliament House after the next phase of judging.
This year’s Beautiful Awards consist of 13 awards across four categories: individuals, community, places, and towns and cities.
