KETE - Kids Enhancing Tawa Ecosystems

20/03/2026

20/03/2026

Did you know that every school term Tawa students will monitor the health of Te Kenepuru, also known as the Porirua Stream!

Last Friday, regardless of the rain, KETE went out to collect data at Grasslees Reserve and Tawa Junction.

We looked at the 7 Cs of Oranga Wai:

Clarity - How clear is the water?
Conductivity - How much salt is in the water?
Current - How fast is the water running?
Cool - What temperature is the water?
Cover - What’s on the banks of the stream?
Creatures - What’s living in the water?
Cleanliness - What is the level of nitrates and phosphates?

Have a student wanting to get involved? Contact us or ask your school about KETE!

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date with KETE’s projects - lots of exciting things to come this year 🌱






video by Tamara

20/03/2026

KUPU : Words you can learn in Te Reo Māori - Part 1!

Here’s a few kupu (words) you’ll likely find in KETE media, with a rough guide of how to pronounce them.

09/03/2026

Busy day today with our Junior KETE student leaders learning about Stream monitoring and our connection to Te Awarua o Porirua the through our Te Kenepuru awa.

16/02/2026

For those who have put in their applications to be a Student Leader this year - thank you! I will be in touch in the next week. For those of you who meant to or weren't sure, I have extended the deadline to Sunday 21st Feb. You need to fill in the form (see post below) and make your submission to me at [email protected].

11/02/2026

Recently Tawa College Yr 10 students joined us for their Community Service. Some came out to our Community Planting site at Takapū Valley and helped with some releasing and matting of plants. They also had fun foraging for blackberries of which there were plenty!
Another group worked hard at the area beside Friends of Tawa Bush Reserves nursery and cleared away a significant amount of blackberry and threatening to take over the stream bank. Updating trap boxes with replacement wire mesh and cutting up wool mats to be used in our planting season this year was also appreciated! Thanks to Richard Herbert for his support 😀

10/02/2026

06/01/2026

Kia ora koutou!
Ngā mihi o te tau hou!
Nice to have some more settled weather in the last few weeks of the summer holidays :) it is time to get your applications in for the KETE Student Leadership Team for 2026.
The form is here https://forms.office.com/r/8uC6LUcJYA
Make sure you include your reasons for wanting to be part of the team 🙂
Looking forward to a great year ahead for KETE

24/12/2025

Holiday Greetings - thanks for your support during the year and thanks to all the students for their mahi!

13/12/2025

Beautiful day for a picnic! KETE student leaders and whānau - see you up the valley - bring your sunscreen and hats :) unfortunately no dogs.

10/12/2025

A big thank you to Tawa College who sent a couple of groups of their Year 10 students on their Community Service up to help with some mahi at our Takapū Valley planting site. Following the very difficult planting season this year (very wet and very cold) a team from Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira's environment team came out and planted 1200 trees that we had left to get in the ground. It was these trees that we working to put mats around - we managed about a third of them so far. NO complaints about the beautiful weather but it was very hot mahi on the side of the hill and the students did well.

25/11/2025

Kia ora koutou!
As we get ready for the summer break, we are starting to look ahead to next year - this means it is time to get your applications in for the KETE Student Leadership Team for 2026.
The form is here https://forms.office.com/r/8uC6LUcJYA
Make sure you include your reasons for wanting to be part of the team :)