Bay Harbour: November 18, 2020

PAGE 12 Wednesday November 18 2020
BAY HARBOUR
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
‘It’s the kids’ reactions which I find the most rewarding’
•From page 11
We don’t get any government
or Ministry of Education funding,
so we aren’t led by their
agenda, and it’s why we’re the
number one health education
provider. We don’t want to be led
by what they want, which is why
we work with teachers to adapt
[the lesson]. I think that’s what
makes us so successful.
Why did you decide to join
the trust?
I’ve got a wee eight-year-old
boy and things are a little bit different
now than back in my day;
kids have got different challenges
now, so I just wanted to make
sure I was getting in touch with
what was going on. Kids seem to
be a lot more involved and more
aware of what’s happening around
them because of social media and
access to the internet. That was
my excuse to get involved and
understand what’s happening in
my own child’s head.
What are the rewarding parts
of your job?
The kids – when Harold comes
on board, the kids wander in and
when they see him, they all get
pretty excited to hear what he
has to say. It’s the kids’ reactions
which I find the most rewarding.
Like most jobs, it’s not always
fun and games. What can be
challenging about your role?
I think seeing the statistics
that are pretty grim, like when I
hear about the teen suicide rates
or how many kids are stressed.
About 35 per cent of kids are
stressed at least once a week.
It’s like, bloody hell, these kids
are eight or nine-years-old, they
shouldn’t be stressed, they should
be watching Pokémon on TV or
something.
Tell me a bit about where life
began for you – where did you
grow up? How about family?
I was born in Salford, UK.
When I was about 13-years-old
my folks decided to ship us all
over, with my brothers and sister,
and start life afresh over here. I
ended up going to school down
the road at Christchurch Boys’
High School, and eventually at
the University of Canterbury.
After travelling overseas for a
while, I came back and became
the director at Specsavers (Papanui)
after opening up a franchise
here. After selling that I was
lucky that I had a bit more free to
pick and choose the jobs I wanted
to do, and that’s when the Life
Education Trust job came up.
BIRDS OF THE ESTUARY
ICON: The Life Education Trust has been visiting Canterbury
schools for more than 30 years.
My two brothers live in Sunshine
Coast and Gold Coast in
Australia. My sister is here in
Christchurch so she’s not very
far from me, and my parents
are retired now and live in the
Hurunui District.
Do you remember much from
life back in England?
I remember quite a lot of it. It’s
quite a rough spot where we were,
a lot of cars were being nicked
every night and there were a lot
of fights, you could just watch it
from your window - that’s what it
was all to me.
One of my favourite parts
about my home town is the
football, everyone enjoyed a bit
of soccer. You could play it in
the streets, you’d just jump over
the back fence after school and
go play with your friends in the
streets.
Aside from your work, what
do you like to do in your spare
time?
I enjoy any sport, especially
soccer being English and all.
I’ve always the idea of making
something myself so I make short
films on the side.
I make any type of short film,
it’s just a matter of writing a
script and trying to gain funding
to do it.
I’ve always loved movies, the
idea for me growing up was to
become either a football player, a
fireman or a moviemaker.
Tanya Jenkins is the manager of the Avon-Heathcote Estuary Ihutai Trust, a non-profit organisation formed in 2002 to
protect one of New Zealand’s most important coastal wetlands. This is her last Birds of the Estuary column. A new column
will start next week – Estuary Matters.
Greenfinch is a sparrow lookalike
THE GREENFINCH was introduced
from England when some 100 birds
were released here between 1862 and
1868.
Like many other introduced birds,
they rather enjoyed our environment
and settled here nicely with the result
that they are now commonly found
throughout New Zealand.
This greenfinch is a small bird and
is actually often confused for a house
sparrow due to its size and its plain
brownish colourings. But then spring
arrives and the male produces its
stunning green and yellow breeding
plumage and certainly can no longer
be called plain.
Nests are being built in early spring
when four to six eggs are produced, and
this can be repeated twice during the
nesting season. The female incubates
the eggs alone but is assisted by the
male who will bring her food to the
nest to save her from having to leave the
eggs alone. Feeding the chicks is done
by both the parent birds.
They are not fussy eaters and they
will eat most tree seeds, but the seeds
of the pine trees do tend to be their
favourite and that is why you may
have seen the greenfinches along the
South Brighton side of the estuary
more often than the hillside.
Apart from seeds though
they will also at caterpillars, aphids,
moths and other small bugs. Fill up
your bird feeders, the greenfinch is
easily attracted by “wild bird seed”
available from supermarkets.
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