EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

One of the most important kaupapa to come from the Rotoroa Island Trust’s partnership with Auckland Zoo is the educational conservation field trips that have been available on the island since 2014.

The Trust and Auckland Zoo hope to inspire a generation of young New Zealanders to love and respect the Hauraki Gulf through their experiences on Rotoroa Island. These field trips focus on the importance of conservation, and the practical steps students can take to nurture our whenua into the future.

Determined to provide something truly engaging for children, the team at Auckland Zoo have developed a day in the field on Rotoroa Island that's different to other conservation education programmes.

"It's not enough to take kids to an island and go for a walk," says Brian Ireland, the leader of Rotoroa Island's education programme. "Demonstrating conservation is key." In fact, demonstrating conservation the driving ethos of Rotoroa Island.

Children participating in the island's education programme will have an informative and interactive learning experience that strives to make a difference to how students see the world. "Our island experience is not a walk and a talk," says Brian. "Kids learn a range of conservation techniques and get to use them within a real island sanctuary."

These techniques range from learning how to use GPS to find tracking tunnels across the island, to identifying animal tracks - good and bad - within tracking tunnels. Toy birds with trackers are hidden across the island for school groups to find using telemetry. It's the kind of hand's on experience that demonstrates the real-life application of science. "Within a day they've learned a set of science skills and go away with a real interest in conservation and the Hauraki Gulf."

Check out the Zoo Tales episode on an education field trip to Rotoroa.

BOOKING INFORMATION AND COSTS

Facilitated by Auckland Zoo educators, year 5 to 13 students have the opportunity to participate in hands-on activities based on real, current conservation fieldwork practices on Rotoroa Island.

Cost
Transportation costs for field trips are subsidised by the Rotoroa Island Trust. Prices start from $8 per student, with one adult travelling free of charge for every six paying students (every additional adult is $45). Please note it is the responsibility of the school to organise and cover the cost of transport to and from the ferry terminal.

Dates
Individual class field trips will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Term 4 2016: from October 11 to December 8 2016.
Term 1 2017: from February 2 to April 14 2017.
These are full-day trips that depart from the downtown ferry terminal at 8.00am and return to Auckland at 5.00pm.

Group size
There is a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 60 students per trip.

Book
Places are limited. To register your class, visit the Auckland Zoo website. You must fill out an application form and email it to Education Programme Officer brian.ireland@aucklandzoo.co.nz.

Independent class trips
If you're interested in organising an independent class trip, please email us at info@rotoroa.org.nz and tell us what you'd like to do.