School Trip to Te Parapara Gardens and Hamilton Gardens

Today we went to the Hamilton Gardens.  We went to look at the kumara gardens and the carvings around the garden.

We saw so many beautiful other gardens too.  It was also very hot!

We spent time looking at the Pataka in the garden, as this is what we have talked about at school.  We saw how it would be difficult for rodents to get up into the storage area, but we did see ants climbing up the pole!

We got to look closely at the carvings, and see the paua shell used for the eyes.  We could trace with our hands the whirls of the patterns on the carvings. We talked about the sharp sticks around the kumara garden, wondering what they could be for.

We saw a great big kitchen garden with many vegetables, and a little potting shed that looked like it was from the Peter Rabbit story.  We also saw compost being made in the Sustainable Garden.

What learning is happening here?

Children are able to make connections between people, places and things in their world.  This enables them to generate and refine their working theories. For example, in the classroom we had discussed at length the Pataka, and why it was on a tall pole.  The visit gave the children the opportunity to see a Pataka and to take that knowledge and apply it and refine it.

Some children had visited the gardens before and were excited to share their knowledge with the group.  Amelia told us that there were eels in Turtle Lake, that she had seen them. It is important for children to have the opportunity to gain knowledge about significant icons in their wider world.

It is this interest and pleasure in learning about the wider, unfamiliar world that helps make connections back to home and school, as well as encouraging discussion of new ideas and theories.

Where to next?

We can begin to unpack and discuss our trip through discussion and art and make connections with similar icons at school (eg kitchen garden and our carvings).