Educate Us

The Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari Living Classroom

Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari offers people of all ages the opportunity to learn about the New Zealand environment and the flora and fauna which makes it unique. Here visitors can develop a deeper understanding of conservation in New Zealand and learn about the methods that have been used to keep the sanctuary pest-free. In essence the hope is to inspire others to look in their own backyards and work towards protecting the many precious environments found worldwide.

We are excited to invite schools to participate in our conservation education programme for 2020!

Get out of the classroom and step into an environment that inspires and engages students' inquisitive minds and where learning is done by experiencing and immersing yourself in the natural environment!

Learning Opportunities

The Sanctuary Mountain® conservation education programme offers students the opportunity to:

Experience the ambitious conservation project that is New Zealand’s largest pest-free fenced sanctuary – its past, present and future.

Build on their knowledge about New Zealand’s unique biodiversity (flora, fauna and fungi).

Discuss key conservation challenges facing New Zealand’s wildlife and the technologies Sanctuary Mountain® is using to protect the maunga.

Become field conservation scientists as they learn new skills and act as kaitiaki of our taonga.

Learning experiences could include:

Conservation challenges:

Introduced pests and predators
Where did they come from? Why are they considered pests? What can we do?
Birds, reptiles, invertebrates and plants – discover the interconnections within the forest
What adaptations and different roles do living things play within the forest?
Which native species have been translocated to Maungatautari?
Discover how we care for, survey and monitor these species.

During your guided hikoi students might see:

North Island robins, tomtits, kākā, tūī, bellbirds, hihi, tīeke, fantails, pōpokotea, kererū and wētā.

Conservation Education Programme

What can schools expect?

Our education programme is a fully-facilitated, hands-on, experiential programme of maximum four hours in duration. The themes for our programme have a very strong focus on conservation and natural history and we pride ourselves on meeting students’ and teachers' needs. This programme is best suited to Years 4 – 10.

We can also cater for NCEA programmes (Science, Biology, Social Sciences, Geography, PE and Health or EfS), Cambridge Syllabus (Biodiversity and Conservation) and IB programmes.

Please contact educator, Tali (education@maungatrust.org) if you would like to discuss modifying an educational visit to cater to the needs of your group.

Facilities:  The education facility, Matapihi, is located behind Pukeatua School on school grounds (Arapuni Road).

Cost: $11.00 (inclusive of GST) per person, with free entry for teachers.

We also provide education programmes for early childhood, international students and New Zealand tertiary students.

Don’t miss out!

Bookings are essential.  Please email Tali Jellyman at education@maungatrust.org

Enquiries can also be made via the ‘book now’ page under the education programme tab: https://www.sanctuarymountain.co.nz/book-now

Our Education Sponsors

We are grateful to have had the support of Mother Earth who help fund our Education Programme. Without these contributions our Education Programme would not be where it is today.

We are grateful to have had the support of the Ministry of Education LEOTC who help fund our Education Programme.  Without these contributions our Education Programme would not be where it is today.

THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE VISITED SANCTUARY MOUNTAIN WITH YOUR CLASS. BY VISITING US YOU HAVE CONTRIBUTED DIRECTLY TO THE CONSERVATION WORK WE DO.

We love to receive photographs of your students engaging in our education programme and we love to hear what actions you take when you get back to school! Let us know about your learning!

If you would like to make a further koha to our conservation project you can donate now.