Term 3 PiPS - Paengaroa School

This term in the PiPS garden, I found myself reflecting on something deeper than seedlings and harvests. While we did plenty of the practical work; planting, weeding, harvesting, and tending, what stood out most wasn’t the jobs we ticked off, but the curiosity of the tamariki who filled the garden with questions, ideas, and wide-eyed wonder.

One afternoon, we were talking about bees. It began as a simple chat about pollination, but it quickly became an adventure. The children wanted to see bees for themselves, so we set off through the garden in search of them in the blue and yellow flowers throughout the garden. Their excitement grew as they spotted one darting between flowers, then another carrying little bundles of pollen on its legs.

As we watched, the conversation turned into big-picture thinking: Why do bees do this? What would happen if there were no bees? Do other creatures have jobs too? Suddenly, the garden became a classroom of awe, a place where the children were piecing together how every living thing has a role, how nothing in nature works alone.

For me, this moment summed up the heart of our time in the PiPS garden. Yes, the skills of growing food and caring for the earth are important. But perhaps even more valuable is nurturing that spark of curiosity, the wonder that makes a child stop and marvel at a bee, or imagine the invisible threads connecting all of life.

In a world that often rushes past, the garden slows us down. It invites questions, it offers mysteries, and it reminds us that wonder is not something to grow out of, but something to hold onto. My hope is that every child who steps into this garden leaves not just with dirt under their nails, but with a little more curiosity in their hearts.