Students tackle jobs at Beebys Hut

Jo Kent

The kids at Lake Rotoiti School carried out their first repair and maintenance trip to Beebys Hut in Mt Richmond Forest Park last week, after the Department of Conservation granted them stewardship back in September.

Principal Mike Allen says he had a list of tasks from DOC and hopes the children will be able to go at least twice a year.

“We’re teaching children how to be socially responsible, and we’re also giving them an opportunity to look after a part of our community that doesn’t get a lot of maintenance done on it.”

The entire school of 15 children, aged 6 to 12, two teachers and a handful of parents, hopped into 4WD vehicles and made the trek up to the hut along with two DOC rangers.

Office manager Dominique McCrostie says the hut sits at 1310m above sea level so it was a fair climb to get there.

“We even stopped halfway up and got out to take a photo to record just how high we were getting.”

Once at the top, the children were given their maintenance tasks, which included washing windows, wiping surfaces, stacking firewood, collecting rubbish and even cleaning the toilet.

“The kids went about their jobs with enthusiasm and smiles, taking ownership of the site and even asking for more to do.”

She says that after the work was done, they sat down for a sausage sizzle lunch.

“Next we did some outdoor educational activities, looking at native flora and fauna and investigating what birds might be found at that altitude.”

DOC rangers Sjaan Field and Paul Dulieu took the students on a short walk to find some plants unique to New Zealand and the alpine environment. They also taught the children how to recognise pest plants.

Following a five-minute official bird count that DOC will keep a record of, and the school will do again on their next trip, the children were given another mission.

“They were tasked with spotting and removing pest species of plants on the walk back down to school,” Dominique says.

“This was done with much gusto which slowed the trip home significantly, and the children were very proud to present their victims to DOC on arrival.”

The next excursion will include an overnight stay and will happen at the end of term 4.