July 2nd, 2025

Redoubt North Kindergarten recently participated in the Pest-free South Auckland Moth Plant Competition 2025, held by Pest Free South Auckland and the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board. We’re thrilled to share that after collecting an impressive 2,573 pods, Redoubt North Kindergarten secured third place in the ECE category!

Here is Redoubt North’s Story:

“Our participation in the Pest Free South Auckland Moth Plant Competition began in November 2024 at our whānau hui with special guest speaker Lenny – (Pest Free Activator) from the Beautification Trust speaking on behalf of Pest Free South Auckland. This year, we registered to help remove this pest plant from the community by collecting as many Moth Plant Pods as possible. 

There has been a lot of discussion and research about the Moth Plant with tamariki and their whānau, and our kindergarten community have been awesome in bringing in pods for us to count and photograph. We received gloves and safety glasses for tamariki to use when out in the community collecting pods, and we’ve been receiving feedback that it’s the tamariki insisting on whānau rallying and getting behind the search and seizure of Moth plant pods.”

A big THANK YOU to all of the Redoubt North whānau who supported the kindergarten in this competition. It shows what can be achieved when an entire community gets behind a project. As an Enviroschool, working collaboratively to collect these pods and destroy the vines was a great learning journey for the tamariki. It also helped raise awareness in our community about how we can protect our native plants from this invasive vine.

We’re proud to share photos of the team receiving their third-place certificate and the accompanying $150 prize from Sharlene McClay (Pest Free South Auckland). Redoubt North Kindergarten look forward to putting this towards their Enviro sustainable practices.

Ka mau te wehi Redoubt North Kindergarten! Congratulations to everyone at Redoubt North Kindergarten and all the other winners. Thank you for helping to make Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland pest-free!

Want to be involved next year? Keep an eye on the Pest Free South Auckland Facebook page for future updates.

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