For the seventh year running, our Year 6 boys visited CUE Haven Farm near Helensville for ‘Trees for Survival,’ a fantastic day of tree planting, Waicare (invertebrate monitoring) and nature exploration.

The aim was to help the environment by studying the ecosystem and planting New Zealand native trees, which the boys had nurtured and cared for at school. The trees were transported from school to the site a few weeks earlier to helpacclimatise the saplings before being planted.

CUE Haven is a 58 acre property on the Kaipara Harbour with a vision to develop the farmland into a New Zealand native forest creating a haven for plant and bird life, and a place for future generations to enjoy. The teacher who planted one of the original Pohutakawa Trees in the Saint Kentigern Grove, Mrs Denise Coleman, was back on site this week assisting the boys with this year’s work. The Grove was established a number of years ago to reflect the tree planting efforts by our boys. To date, they have planted well in excess of 2,500 trees.

Sixty-six eager boys had armed themselves with their shovels and energy reserves as they spent the morning working hard planting native New Zealand trees. This was followed by studies of the watercourse and forest in the afternoon. This year, the longer day reflected the additional environmental educational opportunities afforded by the site at Cue Haven. This was supported by Tom and Mahrukh Stazyk, the owners who welcome our students each year.

Our thanks are extended to Gail Farrell, Trees for Survival Field Officer and Planting Day Co-ordinator and Stephen Flemming, Auckland Rotary Worker from Waicare who led the complementary stream and forestry studies. Also thank you to the 16 parents who accompanied the boys and assisted with transport ensuring that the extended days programme was possible.

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