Auckland is home to 26 regional parks that together provide more than 40,000ha of natural landscape for us to enjoy.
This Conservation Week, we look at one of the ways the council is providing opportunities throughout the school year for children to access natural places.
Auckland Council’s Learning Through Experience (LTE) Education Programme is a popular school trips programme led by experienced teachers and park rangers. It can only be booked through schools.
With special activities offered at environmental education centres in five top regional parks, LTE provides students from pre-school age to Year 13 with hands-on, practical experience. Thousands of Auckland children have already been introduced to their natural environment through this programme.
Our curriculum based programme:
- provides hands-on experiences
- provides authentic contexts to explore future focussed issues such as sustainability
- develop values and key competencies in social contexts
- addresses Nature of Science achievement aims
- is led by experienced educators – teachers and park rangers
- inspirea children to make a difference for their environment.
Ambury Regional Park, Ambury Road, Māngere Bridge
Ambury is a working farm with a varied assortment of cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, horses and pigs. There’s a barn, a woolshed and a milking shed, all with fascinating, functional machines.
The area was formed by a volcanic eruption 20,000 years ago, and its numerous stonewalls, mounds, house sites and middens bear testament to how rich the land was during early Māori occupation.
The coastal reefs and inlets on the park’s foreshore are home to more than 86 species of birds and during big autumn tides, thousands of migratory birds congregate along the shore.
Ambury Park is situated near Māngere Bridge, a 25 minute drive from downtown Auckland.
Arataki Visitor Centre, Scenic Drive, Waitākere Ranges Regional Park
Arataki is set among spectacular native forest and is an informative and fun place to visit.
As well as an impressive visitor centre with carvings created by local iwi, Te Kawerau a Maki, Arataki has spectacular viewpoints, accessible walking tracks and an environmental education centre.
With its informative displays and wide, covered decks, Arataki is the perfect base for the many imaginative programmes run out west.
Arataki is 30 minutes’ drive from downtown Auckland.
Auckland Botanic Gardens, Hill Auckland Botanic Gardens, Hill Road, Manurewa
Auckland Botanic Gardens is home to over 10,000 plants. The collections include New Zealand natives, exotics from around the world, roses, edibles, herb and a threatened plants garden. It also includes the largest remnant of broadleaf/podocarp forest in the Manukau area.
The magical Potter Children’s Garden tells the legends of Māui, the kereru and pūriri.
The garden features four major habitats – desert, jungle, bog and meadow, which showcase the amazing adaptations plants develop to survive in different environments.
It also includes water sensitive design features such as green roofs, rain gardens and rain water harvesting devices. The education centre with its shade house, hands-on garden beds and composting systems provides valuable learning opportunities for visiting schools.
Auckland Botanic Gardens is 25 minutes from downtown Auckland.
Long Bay Regional Park, Beach Road, Long Bay
Long Bay Regional Park is a busy beachside park on Auckland’s North Shore. It acts as a green buffer zone for the beach (Te One-roa-o-Kahu) and adjacent Long Bay – Ōkura Marine Reserve.
The park includes the historic Vaughan Homestead and extends northwards to the cliff tops above the Ōkura River.
Long Bay is less than 30 minutes from downtown Auckland.
Ōmana Regional Park, Maraetai
Ōmana is a perfect destination for school groups. It has a safe swimming beach, rock pools to explore, pet animals to feed, a playground, large flat grass areas for organised games and plenty of picnic and barbecue sites.
The 40ha site consists of open farmland, regenerating forest, pōhutukawa-fringed cliff tops and mangrove mudflats.
Ōmana Regional Park is 45 minutes from downtown Auckland.
You can download our Learning Through Experience brochure.
You can book school trips online or phone 09 301 0101 for more information.
For more events, tips and resources, check out the Conservation Week website.
