You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand

Students were engaged, motivated and excited to be taking part, and learnt a great deal from this field trip as it encouraged them to work towards excellence. Participating meant they engaged with the curriculum in English, The Arts (Music, Visual Arts, Dance and Drama), Technology, and with many of the Key Competencies.
This field trip fitted in with the Arts Curriculum perfectly. I used the background information to teach the children about Opera and its place in NZ culture.
We used this as an ignition to our art and drama unit. Added depth to children's learning and they enjoyed the interactive experience. The pre and post assessment showed a lot was learned during the field trip and some children asked their parents if they could go to a performance
Inspired and developed an appreciation for this field of the arts to a group of children from a variety of backgrounds, who all all said they enjoyed it and looked at opera differently now. Marvellous student opportunities - also developed and extended the knowledge of some students for whom music is a personal skill.
As we have our school production this term, it was really valuable for the children to see it done on a larger scale. I love these trips - the children really get to learn things in a lot more depth than they would normally. The use of technology is a great way of hooking them in too!
The definition of waste was a fantastic platform for discussion. Getting the layers from the lining of Kate Valley was very cool and made it that bit more interactive.
We are looking at product lifecycle in our design class and it showed what happens to the end of products when put into rubbish, and the importance of designers to design for end of life. It enabled students to critically think through what their consumption produces and it was a great way to show students something without having to physically go.
This trip gave the students an insight into ecological sustainability. We also tied in a visit from a council person which gave students an insight into our own rubbish process. Students really enjoy watching the videos at home, which can then encourage further discussion on the topics with families.
The trip was very effective for my class as we had just finished a school inquiry based on the Invercargill estuary which had been used as the city dump. It inspires students to do something about their environment or begins conversations about how life used to be and how things change, such as the new technology that has been used to make the Kate Valley landfill safe for the environment.
The students were very interested and challenged throughout this virtual field trip. It was very appropriate, as we are completing an Inquiry on "Our Environment". The online support section was comprehensive and well organised.
In a very powerful way students were able to work collaboratively and at their own pace. Practical as our school is isolated rural, 40km from the nearest township and our class is mixed ability Year 6-8.
The trip supported the Curriculum values by enabling students to work in differing capacities. LEARNZ gives me the opportunitiy to share experiences from all over NZ with the students in my class whose life experiences may be limited.
Great way to have EOTC without leaving the classroom. Very visual and it was awesome that they sent us a sample of the liner material they use for the landfill.
As an enviroschool, we found this field trip to perfectly fit our kaupapa and our journey regarding how to deal with waste at school and at home. Also worked very well for two reading groups to engage in synthesising information appropriately.
Very effective as we have been studying zero waste. Students also gained skills in "Participating and Contributing" and "Managing Self".
The children all understood and could remember the waste process because of the clarity of the message from the videos.
Many accessed the website at home and shared the parts they enjoyed with their family, which was great. My boys loved the machinery and trucks. Great use of technology and targets students of all abilities.
This field trip was so appropriate for my class - they really enjoyed it and were excited to receive the 3 liner samples from the landfill at Kate Valley. As a teacher, this LEARNZ field trip has seen me use more technology in the classroom, while still including activities like interviews and visiting speakers.
Being an Enviro School, this field trip provided real depth to the enviro theme. As an e-learning class, all of the resources were readily available to the students so they could have some 'student choice' in what they did. This is what 'personalised learning' is all about.
The field trip supported our delivery of the curriculum - especially having the ambassador, as he gave an added interest and focus. Students found it user-friendly and easy to access on our Chromebooks.
This field trip was well pitched to my class level,informative and kept the students engaged. The field trip and its sustainability theme supports all learning areas of the curriculum especially science and social studies.
The field trip was followed by our trip to the Bromley Recycling Centre. So it ... completed the journey of our rubbish. Our children were engaged in following the trip and it prompted them to ask lots of questions.
I love the authenticity of the experience. Being able to tangibly hold something (the liner that was sent to enrolled classes) and discuss the layers of the landfill, it was very powerful and got the kids thinking.
Very effective. We were able to consolidate a lot of the learning we had been doing since our trip to the Wellington landfill. It (the virtual field trip) catered to a wide range of students and met the learning of my year 4-6's very well. The students were active participants who were challenged to think critically.
This field trip tied in nicely with our work looking at how we can care for the environment. It also tied in with our maths which included students collecting and analysing their own data about the rubbish we have in our class, at home and around school. The boys in particular were actively engaged; students were amazed at what they didn't actually know about the process that our rubbish goes through.