The kids at St Brigid’s Primary School in Gisborne are thrilled to have won Junior Landcare’s ‘What’s in your backyard?’ photo competition.
To inspire children to explore their local environments and connect with nature, the competition asked them to take photos of the flora and fauna in their backyards.
Then, they shared their snaps with Junior Landcare ambassador Costa Georgiadis, and explained why what they’d captured was important to them.
St Brigid’s teacher Emma Barker said she was surprised by how “happy, calm, relaxed and joyous” the pupils felt in their interactions with nature.
“They were really inspired by the sharing of their peers’ photos and accompanying writing,” she said.
“Initially they thought it would be hard to write 50 words but the challenge was in fact trying to cut out words to keep it to, or under this limit and still convey the extent of their connections.”
One of the pupils, Matilda Wills, sent in a photograph of a succulent and said the plants were symbols of strength and tenacity “against the odds”.
“For me this succulent inspires me to keep moving on with life and to never give up. It helps me believe that I can do things that I find challenging and encourages me to believe in myself,” she wrote.
Costa said the competition was all about creating “little opportunities” and was blown away by every entry.
“[It’s an] an invitation to let curiosity and inquiry roam free and connect to the idea that nature is not something you go to, but is something all around you,” he said.
The school has receive a book hamper with titles to inspire environmental action, and will receive a visit from Costa in 2023.
Elsie Lange
