In 2023, Auckland Council's Sustainable Schools Team (SST) piloted a project called "Mana Ora: Students Decarbonising Schools." The aim was that students, with guidance and support from teachers and SST, would plan and implement climate and sustainability action projects linked to decarbonisation within their schools. Eighteen Mana Ora…

This article addresses the pressing issue of food waste by focusing on the development of young adolescents' food waste literacy. The concept of "food waste literacy" (FWL), defined as the literacy for the judicious use of food, encompasses knowledge, attitudes, values, and behaviours related to food waste. The article presents a study…

In New Zealand and internationally, diverse groups of people are under-represented in mathematics. Disrupting deficit discourses requires educators to recognise the funds of knowledge of learners. This article focuses on stories of mathematics at home and in the community of Pacific learners to highlight what we can learn from the voices of…

Fears of an 'obesity epidemic' in New Zealand and elsewhere have led to a growing focus on children's weight, diet and activities. The aim of this research project was to highlight children's voices, stepping back from obesity interventions to explore how health and obesity discourses are taken up by young primary school children. Nine 6 and…

Background: While dietary sources of calcium are important for bone health, the intake of milk and milk products decreases as children get older. A free milk in schools program may mitigate this decrease in milk consumption. We evaluated the Fonterra Milk for schools program (a free milk initiative) by determining changes in children's milk…

This article reports the findings of a study using tasks where a family orders and considers sharing the cost of a "Fish n Chips" meal. Purchasing take-away food is an example of an everyday situation where literacy and numeracy must be applied to make sense of tabulated price information. Originally developed for use in Australia, the…

Background: Internationally, it is well established that the behaviour, performance, and achievement of schoolchildren is directly linked to the nutritional status of overall diet -- including the contents of their school lunch-boxes. In a previous survey study by the lead authors, primary school children's food consumption behaviour was…

This paper describes teacher responses to a framework designed to support teacher planning for technology. It includes a learning experience outside the classroom [LEOTC] and is designed specifically for five-year-old students. The planning framework draws together characteristics of technology education, junior primary classrooms and LEOTC to…

Eating patterns among school-aged children continue to be highly reliant on frequent consumption of food items that are perceived to have low or poor nutritional value. This has become a serious public health concern. In this New Zealand-based study, primary school children's food consumption behaviour was investigated via two sources: a…