A classroom without walls: New Zealand's nature schools emphasise mud over maths

There are now dozens of nature schools across New Zealand where children learn about foraging, planting trees and trapping pestsAshton Wilcox, 8, points to a dead hedgehog snagged in the rocks of a stream at Battle Hill, a farm 45 minutes north of New Zealand's capital city Wellington. "Look, its insides are moving" he says with alarm, examining the quills now colonised by maggots.A teacher nearby gently advises Ashton not to touch the animal, then explains hedgehogs are a pest in New Zealand and that the maggots are breaking down its remains. Ashton watches a moment longer in curious horror, before bouncing back up the stream to join a group of excitable children who are feeding a writhing mass of eels.Children cross a stream during a Nature School activity day. Director/Kaiako, Bush Sprouts Nature School NZ Trust, Leo Smith, Penelope Toomath (4) and Reid Payne (6) look at eels in a stream (bottom) Continue reading...