Award Nominee

Sandra is Kaurilands School s hard working caretaker and grounds person. One of her most ambitious projects is to clear and restore a large area of the school grounds, approximately an acre, back into its original wetland state. For the last 3 years Sandra has been tackling this rather daunting task by spraying, digging and manually extracting noxious weeds and removing dumped rubbish and replanting the area in native plants and trees. The work started slowly with the involvement of Jill Larby and her class of junior students, but the job became bigger and bigger. It became so large Sandra organised a number of helpers to reduce the work load so the work could be completed in a manageable time frame.

This has included individual classes weeding and clearing, to staggered whole day planting days involving the whole school. Operation Spring Clean and the Waitakere City Council have been a great support along with The Ministry of Justice with Sandra coordinating weekend work programs for the PD boys. This has helped eradicate large stands of ginger and the forever Wandering Jew. Native tree planting has helped stabilize the eroded banks of the wetlands stream and improved the water quality and aquatic life it supports. As the replanted trees mature they will help restore native bird life back to the wetlands.

A boardwalk has been planned through the wetlands which will provide wider and safer access for the school and the public with minimal disturbance to this protected environment. The timber has been purchased and the project will proceed in the near future. Sandra has found the going tough. Quite often working alone, the physically demanding effort of cutting and spraying and removing tons of weeds can be soul destroying. She has also had to tend with residents of neighbouring properties dumping rubbish and reclaiming part of the wetlands as their own recreational area. At the end of the day Sandra is delighted with the progress made and is thrilled to see the wetlands restored to their former state. Her tireless efforts have made it possible for the teaching staff at Kaurilands School to engage and educate the children in conservation methods by becoming involved in planting native trees and learning the value of wetlands and the important role it plays in our environment.

Sandra has made a tremendous contribution to Kaurilands School and the wider community of Titirangi. This nomination has the support of all the children and staff of Kaurilands School.