The annual Pembroke School Pet Day took on new meaning this year, with pupils extending their learning from the day into a whole inquiry topic, says principal Junior Etuale Togia.
He says the inquiry topic, What is a Pet? has led the school community on a journey considering the importance of what a pet is to the community around them.
"As well as pet day, we are extending the learning to include a farm visit and a visit to the school from a sheep shearer."
Junior says the pupils are encouraged to use an inquiry-based approach to their learning which helps them extend their knowledge while also increasing literacy and numeracy skills.
Last month the entire school went on a farm visit to see cows milked and calves fed as part of the topic work.
The school was invited by sharemilkers school community members Phil and Julie Dickson to a farm owned by Climie Road Farms to learn more about dairy farming.
Amy Gatenby, Fonterra area manager support, was at the farm as well to talk to the pupils about Fonterra's role in the dairy industry.
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Fonterra also provided ice creams for the youngsters to enjoy in the sunshine before they headed back to their classrooms.
The out-of-classroom learning experience continued last week for the youngsters, when their school grounds became a shearing shed for a morning.
Shearer Lyall Jensen and his partner Zoe Maketoni visited the school to give a live demonstration of sheep shearing.
While Lyall sheared the sheep, Zoe talked to the pupils about the different breeds of sheep in New Zealand, explaining the different uses their wool could have. She also explained each step of the shearing process to the youngsters lapped up the lesson.
