"I think it helps them kind of leave all the rest of the world behind." Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
There's a whiff of adventure about this canvas classroom, set among the trees in a paddock not far from the Ruamāhanga River.
As soon as the eight and nine-year-olds spy it in the distance, they break into a run.
"Gumboots off!" Jane Riddiford calls as she unzips the white bell-shaped tent to allow the children in.
They file in and explore the space where they'll be spending the next hour forming a "word bank" of nouns, verbs and scientific terms to describe their recent exploration of the Wairarapa moana.
One of the boys circles the soft-sided room, arms outstretched to touch the walls.
"It's so big on the outside, compared to it's tiny on the inside!"
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The children create a word bank after story-telling and hands-on science lessons centred around the moana of South Waiarapa Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
The space is light and airy with a white board at the front, a couple of stools for the teachers to sit on and plenty of room for about a dozen children to sit crosslegged. Once the excitement dies down, it has a hushed and enveloping feel apart from an occasional flap of the sides and the rustle of leaves in the spring breeze outside.
"I think it creates a really contained, cosy space," Riddiford told Country Life. She has experience of similar educational areas during her previous work with a charity in London.
"It helps them kind of leave all the rest of the world behind. We worked a lot in our gardens in the middle of London, in the middle of all the glass, shiny high rise buildings. We had tents and yurts, and it sort of, I think it helps people shift gear and step into another way, and perhaps more imaginative way of being."
The bell tent is situated by the river Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Schoolchildren from Kahutara School listen to Jane Riddiford as she tells a story on the banks of the Ruamāhanga River Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
The field trips and the tent classroom are part of Te Reo o Te Wai, a six-month project set up by the Ruamāhanga Farm Foundation and run by Riddiford and her husband, Rod Sugden.
Hands-on freshwater science and native planting along the river and in the region's wetlands are combined with outdoor storytelling on the banks of the awa.
The day before, the class was sitting among bulrushes, birds swooping in the distance, listening to Maddy Glover from Mountains to Sea Wellington talk about kakahi - freshwater mussels - which are under pressure in Lake Wairarapa.
Sitting on the banks of the moana learning about kākahi, freshwater mussels Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
"A lot of these kids come from farms, and I'm hoping that they're going to go back and have a look at the waterways flowing through their properties and see if they can find kakahi, and maybe they'll come back tomorrow and talk about (them) in their stories." Glover said.
The project connects children deeply with their environment and gives them all a chance to shine in different ways, she added.
"Not every kid loves being outside, but they're a good writer. Or some people don't like numbers, but, you know, they can run up and down a stock bank and collect bugs all day."
Sitting in the tent "puts them a little bit more into that reflective space."
Under canvas the next day the children call out words expressing their experience of the waterways and their inhabitants, as Jane writes them down.
"Shimmering, joyful, yucky, charming, mythical," they call out.
Soon the board is full and the children start to put down their thoughts on paper. Later they'll record their stories for another project Riddiford and her family are hatching. Walkers will be able to listen to the stories using QR codes as they explore the banks of the river, adjacent to the family farm.
Writing in the bell tent, a "cosy and contained space for creativity" Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Students from Years 3 and 4 at Kahutara School have been involved in the project since Term 1, teacher Lara Hooper said.
She said the children's descriptive language and understanding of local history and the environment has grown through the project, as has her own knowledge.
"My class have been doing all their reading, their writing and their maths and science out in this environment, and they don't know it."
"I look at some of those children who read out their stories today, and usually they're very quiet and they won't share all their writing and things. But for them to just develop this descriptive language, the way that they have, is amazing."
The children gather for karakia with teacher Lara Hooper in the paddock Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Learn more:
- Find out more about Mountains to Sea Wellington here.
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