Catherine Shaw

So suddenly we've got a really engaging mathematics lesson that's actually about birds at the same time.

Or our year six students are going to be studying nocturnal species this term and they'll do a great novel study on the Guardians of Gahool.

which is a cool adventure story where all the characters are owls.

And so they'll be looking at hollows and the requirements for nocturnal species to have hollow-bearing trees and also looking at the impact of rodenticides and, you know, the great news that we've had there around the changes happening in Australia but also the devastating impact of that.

And in secondary, my photography students might be doing wildlife photography and, of course, there might be a little bit of bird photography thrown in there

So that's an example of how it might tie into teaching and learning.

But then there's all these other ways that birds are part of our school life too.

I'm a member of our local birding club and so we've set up this beautiful partnership between the Hastings Birders and the Nature School where the school is a member of the local birding club and that means all our students can be junior members.

And so four times a year they put on a junior birding morning and some of the seniors from the club turn up, a bunch of students from the school turn up and their families and we all just go birding together.

It's the most authentic, genuine, intergenerational program I've ever seen and I'm never quite sure whether the students or the seniors get the most out of those mornings.

And then even in our everyday, like at the moment at the front of the school, there's signs on how to identify a Regent honey eater because one was just seen in our area.

And I want students to be able to identify that bird if they happen to come across it on their adventure days.

So if you're at a school where the principal's really into rugby, you know there's going to be a good rugby team.

If you happen to go to a school where the principal is a bird nerd, you're probably going to gear up for a spectacular bird week.

So that's what it's like at the nature school.

It's the best week of the year.

Everybody knows that's Kath's week.

Just let her go.

And I get to run all kinds of great things.

The kids turn up and there's activities in the playground every day.