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Sandwatch
project activities
Following
the involvement of Ms. Natalie Fatalie from Tereora College, Rarotonga,
in the inter-regional
workshop held in Dominica in July 2003, Sandwatch project
activities are starting in Cook Islands. The Sandwatch Project
is being coordinated by the Curriculum Unit of the Ministry of
Education. A workshop for Upper Primary School teachers (Forms
1 and 2, 12 year olds) was held on 11th November 2003 to introduce
the Sandwatch project and get students started on some of the
activities that did not require equipment. This workshop was offered
to nine schools in Rarotonga and involved about 30 teachers. The
Cook Islands were hit by a major cyclone (Cyclone Heta) in January
2004, and the beach used as a demonstration site during the workshop
showed major changes during a follow-up visit.
Funding
was secured early in 2004 to supply some of the schools in Cook
Islands with the necessary equipment.
In
2004 a series of after school workshops were conducted with teachers
in Aitutaki, one of the Outer Islands, and there are plans for
similar activities in Mangaia in September.
Most
of the teachers are looking at incorporating some Sandwatch activities
into other units of work rather than doing it as a separate activity,
and since all the schools are near to a beach, this is quite feasible.
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